Tripping Through Time
by Coho Commanche
Summary: Iris Potter-Black never thought that she would find herself literally tripping through time. Not one to let an opportunity go to waste, she decides to meddle, and meddle big time. Adopting Tom Riddle was not supposed to create a young Voldemort completely obsessed and extremely possessive of her. Her presence definitely wasn't supposed to attract Gellert... (see inside for more)
1. Fate Hates Me

**Full Summary**:

Iris Potter-Black never thought that she would find herself literally tripping through time. Not one to let an opportunity go to waste, she decides to meddle, and meddle big time. Adopting Tom Riddle was not supposed to create a young Voldemort completely obsessed and extremely possessive of her. Her presence definitely wasn't supposed to attract Gellert Grindelwald's attention. Now she has a budding Dark Lord, and a full blown Dark Lord vying for her attention and affection. Throw a manipulative Albus Dumbledore into the mix, and you have a recipe for disaster. What was Iris expecting to happen? She should know better by now that all her plans implode spectacularly.

A/N:I don't think there are enough Fem!Harry time travel stories where she adopts Tom Riddle. Sniff, sniff. So, I decided to help remedy that massive tragedy. I like to write threesomes, so deal with it. I might write some single parings down the line, nothing is set in stone. Updating will be pretty regular, at least once a week except for the next one possibly due to finals. I am almost done with college; next week is dead week and then a few days of finals and moving all my stuff home (which is an hour away tops, LOL). The lemony goodness will now also be on as well as on my AO3 (Archive of Our Own) account (Coho_Commanche). There will be violence and most likely lots of it in this story. I will be updating New World, Same Problems tomorrow (no doubt about it), and might update this one as well. If not tomorrow, then the day after for sure. Cheers!

**FanFiction isn't letting me post the new chapter, but I managed to get it up on Archive of Our Own (AO3). **

**I've added chapter two to chapter one for now.**

**Disclaimer**: I no way own anything. I have read far too many fan fictions for me to know who wrote what, so I apologize for any similarities or copying. Don't tear my head off about it, simply point it out, and I'll try to give credit where it is due if you are upset.

**Chapter One: Fate Hates Me.**

Iris groaned, her head spinning and aching. She had been in the Time Room; she remembered the constantly breaking, reforming, then re-breaking shelf of time turners. She glanced around her. No, she was definitely no longer in the Time Room. Iris was actually in a dark alley, filled with garbage. Her chest hurt, but she ignored it, having a high pain tolerance and writing it off as insignificant. Her head hurt a lot worse anyways.

She pushed herself to her feet, stumbling…_That's it!_

She had tripped over a stone and crashed into the shelf. She had fucking _tripped_ of all things. She was never going to live it down. She'd been an Unspeakable for three years now, well more like ten considering she had been using a special room in the Chamber of Secrets where time flowed much faster; one year in the room equaled one month outside of it. She was now extremely good at magic. She had needed to utilize it after killing Voldemort and subsequently absorbing his powers and his knowledge. Talk about traumatizing.

Hermione had been fascinated by the exchange and pestered her non-stop for Voldemort's knowledge. Iris had never actually told Hermione anything of consequence, much to the other woman's ire. Ron hadn't been so accepting, watching her warily, as if she was going to suddenly go bat shit insane and take off on a murdering rampage. Neville had been surprisingly supportive, though had she gotten to really know him, she would have expected nothing less. Luna was, well, Luna.

She really wasn't that surprised that Ron acted the way he did. The rest of the Weasleys were neutral, except for Molly and to some extent Ginny. Molly had been horrified and demanded that she have herself be Obliviated. Ginny was still too traumatized from the Chamber incident to really be able to be comfortable around her.

It wasn't until she spent the ten years in the special chamber for ten years alone, that she realized she had stopped aging once reaching her prime. The only reason she was able to keep the training secret was due to her lack of aging ten years. She had always looked more mature, so the slight difference was blamed on her body being forced to adapt to the sudden influx of magic.

Iris wasn't stupid, she knew the thrice-cursed Hallows had something to do with it. Oh how she longed to be rid of them. She had used cursed fire on the damn things, but they remained unscratched, mocking her with their continued existence. She then tried using the Elder Wand to destroy the other two, but that didn't work either. Iris knew that people were going to soon grow suspicious within the next twenty years. She was ever so thankful that witches and wizards aged more slowly than Muggles. She would have twice as long to be with her loved ones before the truth came out and she had to start applying glamors.

She shuddered at the thought of having to constantly wear glamors when around people or where she might be seen and recognized. Glamors were extremely uncomfortable and took a ridiculous toll on one's magic. She could maintain them no problem, she just dreaded the irritation of them. She already had to place notice-me-not charms on her ears to get Muggles to ignore the pointy tips. Magicals would be able to see through them as the charms were only for Muggles.

Drawing herself out of her thoughts, Iris focused on the issue at hand. She didn't feel like she was of sound enough mind to use magical transportation and refused to even consider the Knight Bus. She probably had a concussion now that she though about it. Glad that she always kept the mokeskin pouch that Hagrid had given her as a gift many years ago, on at all times, she summoned a vial of pain reliever and nausea remover.

Knocking back the foul concoctions, she gave a small grimace of distaste.

_Urgh, no matter the potion, they were all foul._

The only ones that weren't were the ones to steer clear of at all costs. Love potions, poisons, and truth serums along with a few other nasties were either flavorless or had other favorable tastes. Amortentia was said to mimic one's favorite flavor, a major tipoff if you were drinking or eating something that should in no way taste like chocolate for example.

Leaning against the brick wall, Iris closed her green eyes and waited for the potion to kick in. A slight wind blew in her face, the cold stinging her cheeks.

_Wait, cold? _

Her eyes snapped open, head spinning as she stumbled to the sidewalk outside of the alley. Her mind went blank, mouth dropping open in confused shock. She could plainly see that the deciduous trees were leafless, meaning that it was either the very beginning of spring or sometime in winter. Her mind whirled with the thought. She was just in summer, so how could she now be in a different season?

Iris groaned as the answer smacked her upside the head.

_The fucking time turners. _

"Oi, move out of the way lady!" Iris scrambled back into the Alley, barely moving out of the way in time for a truck to back up right where she just was. Looking at the truck with a dawning sense of horror, Iris frantically surveyed her surroundings.

_Oh gods, these are the cars that were used back in the early 1900s. _

Feeling sick, Iris let her back collide harshly with the cold brick wall, ignoring the suddenly concerned truck driver talking to her. She buried her face in her hands, vaguely registering the man putting his hand on her shoulder. She heard the man let out a cry of alarm when he saw the blood on her, previously hidden by her dark clothes. Fortunately, she had charmed her Unspeakable robes to automatically transfigure into acceptable Muggle clothes when in non-magical areas. Her boots contained runes to do the same thing. Being made out of basilisk skin, they were highly resistant to all spell magic.

_It's not possible. I am in a nightmare and will be waking up anytime now._

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

The truck driver, extremely concerned when the beautiful young woman began to slide limply down the wall, picked her up and rushed out to find help. A Bobby saw the couple and hurried over.

"She just collapsed! I had yelled at her to get out of the way, and she did, but something seemed off, so I asked if everything was all right. She did not reply, so I grew concerned and went to check on her. That is when I saw the blood. She collapsed soon after I spotted it." The two men were trying to find the source of the blood, blushing as they did so.

"I believe she is bleeding from her chest, can you get her to the hospital in your truck? I have a horse, but I do not want to jar her injuries." The truck driver nodded, waiting for the other man to open his truck door for him to place the woman inside.

They had drawn a crowd, the watchers whispering excitedly. The truck driver made sure the woman was secure before clambering into the driver's seat, bloodied hands slipping as he tried to start the engine. With a grumbling roar, the truck came to life. Yelling at people to get out of the way, the truck driver flew down the street, honking at people and yelling to get them to move. He spared a brief glance at the woman when she let out a groan as the truck hit a deep rut. Her head was also bleeding he noted with alarm as the red stain surrounding it grew larger. Her red hair had hidden the blood. She was pale, extremely so. He wondered how she came to be in the condition that she was.

Turning the next corner so sharply, that the truck almost tipped over, the man threw out one arm to hold the woman in place, and slammed on the breaks as a child ran out into the road after a ball. The young boy looked up and froze, ball dropping from his numb fingers. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Get out of the road!" The boy scrambled for the ball, scooping it up and dashing back to the sidewalk, almost getting hit again by another car. Stomping on the gas pedal, the truck lurched forward, resuming its journey to the nearest hospital. Within five minuets, seeing as the hospital wasn't very far away, the truck was haphazardly parked.

Carefully lifting the stunning woman out of the truck, mindful of her head, the man ran into the building. His sudden entrance caused a brief moment of stillness before a nurse ordered him to put the woman down where she was directing him. The last he saw of the beautiful redhead as she was being rushed off, was her skin being almost the color of the nurse's uniform.

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

Iris regained consciousness slowly. Her head was pounding and her mouth disgustingly dry. She peeked open her eyes, only to squeeze them shut when the sunlight streaming in through the window blinded her. The room was chilly, and the blankets scratchy.

_Shit, I'm in a Muggle hospital. _

She vaguely recalled the truck driver, and pain, lots of pain. The simple pain reliever hadn't been strong enough.

"Ah, good you're awake. How are you feeling?" Iris squinted, blinking rapidly to try and see through watery eyes. "Oh, let me close the blinds first." Iris heard someone moving around the room, and the sound of fabric rustling and sliding before the light dimmed considerably.

"Water." Or at least that's what she tried to say. It came out scratchy and not at all like the word water. The nurse, and Iris could now see that the person was indeed a nurse, plucked the full glass of water off of a metal tray by the door. Walking over, she helped support Iris as she held the glass to her lips, letting her take small sips slowly.

The middle-aged nurse observed her patient with a critical eye. The woman was a stunning beauty, almost too perfect to be real. Yet, she clearly was real, and covered in bandages. Her wounds didn't look nearly as bad as the amount of blood found on her suggested, so she should be able to leave tomorrow. The doctor had given her stitches, lamenting on the fact that her flawless skin would be scarred for life. That would have been true if not for Iris's magic.

Vivid green eyes that seemed to glow with an inner light sent chills down the nurse's spine. Unnatural, the woman was too perfect, too beautiful to be human. The nurse was partially right, being half Fae with some Veela and Vampire genes mixed in, Iris was far from being human. Luckily she could suppress her Allure while unconscious or asleep due to her dominant Fae genetics and the Vampire genes, though those were somewhat recessive.

"Thank you." Iris's voice washed over the older woman, causing her eyes to widen at the lyrical sound it made. No human should have such a voice. Being very religious and superstitious, the nurse decided that the younger woman would be leaving today if she could convince the doctor that it was in everyone's best interests.

"You should hopefully be well enough to leave today." Her words were tight and brisk. Iris narrowed her eyes at the older woman. Her mousy brown hair and dull brown eyes set in a round face belied her true colors. Iris knew her type, had had to deal with plenty of such people in the Wizarding world. Scowl settling onto her delicate features, Iris swung her legs out of the bed, looking around for her clothes. Seeing them on the small wooden table by the wall, she ignored the nurse's squawking.

"No, I don't want to be a bother, I'll just leave now." Batting away the woman's hands, Iris tugged on her clean clothes. Glad that her head wasn't heavily bandaged, she left the ones on under her clothes. Slipping on her boots, Iris turned to the flustered nurse. "Now, if you could be so kind to show me the way, out, I would be most appreciative." Casting a wandless compulsion, the Muggle woman went to do her bidding without a fight. People in the hallways stopped to stare at Iris, one man even walked into someone, causing both to go down in a tangle of limbs, cursing.

Iris smirked, inwardly cackling as she let go of her Allure slightly. It proved to be a marvelous distraction tactic. She came to a sudden halt when she saw the state of the weather outside.

_Snow, it was fucking snowing. _

Scowling, and cursing fate, Iris soldiered her way out into the cold. Casting a heating charm, Iris pulled in her Allure and cast a notice-me-not.

Ducking into a side alley and making sure that no one was paying her any attention, she conjured a mirror and vanished the bandages on her head. Carefully vanishing the stitches, Iris watched the wound close on its own. It must have been pretty bad if it was still large enough to be stitched. She repeated the process with the rest of her body, constantly making sure her charms were still working. Satisfied that she was as good as she was going to get, Iris put on her invisibility cloak and flamed to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Her clothes shifted back into Unspeakable robes, which she quickly transfigured into expensive winter robes that would have been popular in the early 1900s. Making sure she was alone, Iris pulled off the cloak and let it disappear again. She idly wondered if there were now two sets of Hallows existing because of her.

Tapping her custom made wand on the correct sequence of bricks, Iris doggedly made her way up the snow-covered streets to Gringotts. Several witches and wizards gave her curious looks when they saw her, immediately realizing that she wasn't a regular witch.

She curiously glanced at all of the shops on her way, mentally noting which ones she would need to visit.

Giving a short bow to the Goblin guards, much to their surprise, she walked into the bank, making a beeline for the nearest empty Teller. Waiting for the Goblin to finish writing something down, she observed the bank itself. It didn't look any different from the one in her time, except for a few little things here and there.

"Well, what do you need?" Jumping slightly, Iris gave the annoyed Goblin a sheepish look.

"I would like to have an Inheritance test done please Master Goblin Jagtooth. Making sure to be as polite as possible, Iris kept her face perfectly blank at the Goblin's suspicious glare.

"Very well. Griphook!" Iris startled at the familiar name. She had forgotten that Goblins had an even longer lifespan than average witches and wizards. She wasn't pure Fae or Vampire, so normally would fall in the above average category, meaning she would have an abnormally long life. Due to the Hallows, that no longer applied.

A slightly younger looking Griphook came over quickly, gesturing for her to follow him. Iris easily kept up with the much shorter Goblin. Seeing as she was five foot six, she was significantly taller than the small Goblin, and therefore had to shorten her stride so that he could keep up with her. She resisted the urge to smile, knowing that it would likely offend the cantankerous Goblin.

Iris never got the chance to tell the Teller her name, and thought briefly about telling Griphook, but was soon distracted by her surroundings.

The unusual duo came to a stop outside of an impressive set of doors after walking down the large hallway for about five minutes. The word 'INHERITANCE' was engraved on a large gold plaque, gems sparkling around its edges in the torchlight.

Opening the doors, Griphook led her into a neat and orderly office, family crests covering the walls. A large desk and chair dominated the center of the room, with several smaller chairs in front of it. Another Goblin, though this one much older than the previous ones she had seen, sat in the large chair behind the even larger desk. A shallow stone bowel sat on top of the desk off to the side, covered in runes. A small athame rested next to it on a stand, its slender blade also covered in runes. The hilt was made of some sort of blue stone, having an inner fire that shone through.

"Axegrinder, she's here to have an Inheritance test." Having said his part, Griphook backed out of the office, the massive doors silently closing behind him.

Iris and the old Goblin eyed each other warily, sizing the other up.

"Well miss…" Axegrinder trailed off, scowling when her realized that Griphook had neglected to mention her name.

"Miss Hallows sir." She groaned mentally.

_Really Iris, _Hallows_? Why don't you just say Potter or Black and be done with it?_

Axegrinder's eyes sharpened, he leaned forward, intrigued.

"An interesting last name. Hallows you said?" Iris nodded, stepping forwards and gracefully sitting in one of the chairs.

"I'm an orphan, I was given the name by an eccentric old Squib." Iris was a good liar, she had learned from the best after all: Voldemort.

Axegrinder sat back in his chair, looking disappointed.

_Could the Goblin be an old gossiper? _

She almost lost control and started laughing at the very thought. He must have seen something in her eyes though, because he suddenly glared at her.

"The cost of an Inheritance test is sixty Galleons. Do you want to pay now after, or have the money taken out of any accounts you might posses?"

"The latter option please." Giving a short nod of agreement, the Goblin lifted the shallow bowel and the slim athame. Reaching into a drawer once the bowel was in place, the Goblin produced a small blue phial filled with purple liquid.

"You will need to drink the potion, then cut your hand or wrist and give enough blood fill the bottom of the bowel. Do you want to see only the items that you can claim?"

Iris gave a silent mental sigh of relief. She was worried that the Potter and Black families would pop up, but she was sure that the current Heads of the two families would prevent her from being eligible to claim them. She hoped that was the case at least. Magic was finicky and the last thing she needed was to be found out.

Normally Iris would have a valid reason to worry, but the Family magics for both the Black and Potter families could sense her rejection to be the Head of the family.

As Iris went to drink the potion, Axegrinder spoke once more.

"Be warned, the potion will be painful." Iris groaned.

With that ominous warning, she tossed back the potion, grimacing at the bitter taste. She hated bitter things, absolutely hated them. She also didn't really like tea. Some Brit she was.

Searing pain shot through her, feeling like her insides were being burned. It was almost as bad as one of Voldemort's _Crucios_, close, very close, but not quite. She dropped the phial onto to desk so she didn't accidentally crush it. Gritting her teeth, she glowered at the smirking Goblin.

_Bastard!_

The pain slowly ebbed away, dulling to an ache, then disappearing altogether. Giving a large sigh of relief, she quickly slashed her wrist, letting the blood rapidly pool in the small bowl.

Once the bottom was completely covered in blood, she took out her wand, looking to Axegrinder for permission to heal the cut. He nodded, waving his hand at her. Grinning, Iris quickly healed the cut and put away her wand. She didn't want to reveal her wandless magic abilities unless absolutely necessary.

Iris watched in fascination as the Goblin tapped several of the runes along the rim of the bowl with his long spidery fingers. The runes glowed black, then the blood turned into a smoky mist. The next time Iris blinked, the mist had begun to form a piece of red parchment with black ink snaking across it. Waiting until all of the mist was gone, Axegrinder plucked the floating parchment out of the air and read over it first. His eyes grew very large, something that looked absurd on a Goblin. He started rummaging in his desk for parchment, already having a quill and ink ready. Having found what he was looking for, he wordlessly pushed the results across the dark wood desk to Iris.

Iris picked it up, curious as to what she could inherit. She blinked several times, clearly not reading the results correctly. She looked again. Nope, still the same. She felt rather faint, never having considered that her mother would be the one she mostly inherited from. At least her magic was cooperating with her name change in this time.

**Name**: Iris Hallows

**Eligible for**: House of LeFay (through mother), House of Emrys/Merlin (through mother), House of Ravenclaw (through mother), House of Peverell (through father), House of Gryffindor (through father).

**In line for**: Slytherin (2nd in line after Tomas Marvolo Riddle).

**Creature Inheritance**: Yes, Fae (half), Vampire (quarter), and Veela (quarter).

**Properties**: See vaults for details on Emrys and LeFay. Raven's Keep (Albania), Gryffindor Manor (Scotland), Slytherin Castle (Britain/Island), and Peverell Castle (Britian).

Iris took one look at the monetary value of the vaults and promptly shoved it out of her mind.

_Well, looks like I'm set for the next…I don't even want to think about it. _

"So, can I just claim these Houses now then?" Axegrinder looked up from what ever it was he was writing.

"Yes." Finishing the note, he placed it in a box near him. It disappeared, going off to some Goblin no doubt.

Five ring boxes suddenly appeared in the space where the letter had been only moments before. Grabbing them, the Goblin opened each, setting them down so the rings faced Iris. An elegant bracelet suddenly appeared in the box, catching Iris's attention.

"What's the bracelet for?" Axegrinder looked at her as he went to pick it up.

"It is for if you decide to attach the rings like charms to it instead of combining them into one or wearing all of them. Personally, I would advise the bracelet, as it will allow you to keep all the rings separate and out of the way." Iris looked at the beautiful bracelet, then back at the rings.

"I'll take the bracelet then." Axegrinder nodded, handing it over to her.

"First put on the rings, then press them against the bracelet. They will shrink in size and attach themselves to the bracelet. When you want one or more to be visible, simply think about the ring being on your hand and the ring will appear. The bracelet has the ability to hide itself should you so desire. Again, all you have to do is think about it being visible and it will appear."

Iris clipped on the bracelet, the clasp sealing with magic as soon as she let go of it. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the first of the boxes. It was going to be a very long day.

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Tomas Marvolo Riddle, more commonly known as Tom or the Freak, was staring morosely outside his bedroom window. He was turning six in two days. He grimaced as it started snowing again. He hated snow, it was cold and wet. The orphanage had poor heating and thin, ragged blankets that did nothing to warm one's body. The food was equally as dismal. He hated it here at Wool's Orphanage. Every year, he would wish for the same thing: for some family member, anyone really, to come and take him away from this hell. Yet no one ever did.

He was going to the priest tomorrow for an exorcism. He shivered in fear. Mrs. Cole had caught him practicing his Gifts yesterday. She was convinced he was a demon or at the very least possessed by a demon. His ice blue eyes glinted maliciously as he imagined all the things he would do to her one day. Oh would she regret how she treated him. All of the orphans would regret it as well. He sighed, deciding he might as well try to sleep if he wasn't going to be allowed to eat anything tonight as part of his 'punishment'.

Putting on as many layers as possible, he burrowed under the pathetic excuse for a blanket and curled up into a tight little ball. He was abnormally tall for his age, as well as smart. He was a prodigy, a true genius, of that there was no doubt. He was also becoming incredibly hansom. His black hair fell in an orderly fashion, slightly wavy. His skin was a creamy white, though slightly too pale from lack of sunlight. He was skinnier than he should be, but considering how little he was fed, that was no surprise.

Tom quickly drifted off to sleep. He had a strange dream that night.

***Dream***

He was in a forest, a full moon high in the sky. He heard what sounded like an angel singing. Hurrying towards the noise, entranced by its beauty, he came upon a clearing with a small pond. There was a woman, no a goddess, for she was too perfect to be anything else, sitting on a large rock and dipping her feet in the water, singing. A large blue, gold, green, and silver snake was wrapped around her, as she stroked it. Her hair was the color of fire, the copper orange and burnished red blending together. He loved it, it reminded him of warmth. He drew closer, cursing himself when he stepped on a twig.

A loud crack sounded in the clearing, causing the woman and snake to look over at him. She had stopped singing, he noted with disappointment. Her electric green eyes glowed, her skin looking like it was a part of the moon itself as it gave off its own light. Her red lips curved into a smile, even white teeth flashing. He noticed that she had pointed ears and unusually long and sharp canines.

"Hello Tom." He started in surprise, not having expected that.

The snake looked at him critically, tongue flickering out. He looked back at the woman's face, searching for something, what that something was he did not know.

"You know my name?" He cursed himself at how breathless he sounded.

_Dammit, I sound like a girl. _

The woman laughed, he voice like tinkling chimes.

"Oh yes. How could I not?" He frowned.

"What do you mean?" She smiled a very mysterious smile, one that seemed to contain the greatest of mysteries. She did not answer, looking up at the moon instead.

"Mars is bright tonight." His head spun, what was she going on about now?

"So." She looked at him gravely and he felt a sudden thrill of foreboding.

"War is coming. One that will change both worlds." Ok, now he was really confused.

"There is only one world." He was beginning to think she was completely insane.

"No Tom, there is another, one both you and I belong to." She stood up, walking towards him. He took a step back as she did so. The giant snake remained wrapped around her.

"Stay back!" he didn't mean to yell, but he still ended up doing it. She continued coming forward. She suddenly cupped her hands and blew into them. A golden light shone through her fingers. He watched entranced as she chanted softly. The wind stirred, ruffling his hair. She pulled her hands away and opened them. There, sitting in her cupped hands was a pendant and chain.

She gestured for him to approach. He did so, still staring in awe at her display of magic. She bent down and placed the chain over his head. An Ouroboros made of black and silver metal hung from a silver chain. He looked at her in confusion.

The woman smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead. A zap of electricity shot through him where her lips touched his skin. He placed a hand where her lips just were when she pulled away. Smiling, she stood.

"So that you know it was real. Oh, my name is Iris."

***Dream end***

With that last cryptic remark and clue, Tom jerked awake. He heard someone pounding on his door, yelling for him to get up. Tom got out of bed and bent down to pick up a book on the floor when his world came to a screeching halt.

A very familiar pendant was dangling down in front of his face. Feeling as though the world was suddenly tilting on its axis, he raised shaking hands to hold the pendant up to his eyes.

"_So that you know it was real…"_ That wasn't just a dream, it was a _promise_.


	2. Preparations and First Meetings

A/N: I apologize for the way I had to portray the Priest and other people in the Church. It is necessary for the story, and I can assure you that it has no bearing on today's Priests that I know of. I'm pretty sure they would be put in jail so fast that their heads would spin if they tried something like this nowadays.

I've finally managed to post this as its own chapter. I tried to upload another, but the stupid error message popped back up. Check my profile for updates on the situation and to see if I've added a chapter to another already up.

**Chapter Two: Preparations and First Meetings**

Iris stared at Griphook as he led her over to a cart. She was only going to visit the Peverell vault today. She knew that if she went into any of the others, that she would spend the rest of the day in them.

"Hey Griphook, what's the date?" The Goblin turned to look at her in confusion.

"The twenty-fourth of December." At her still expectant look, he added "1932."

_Shit! I'm so fucked._

Climbing into the cart, she held on as it sped off into the depths of the bank. She savored the feeling of the wind on her face, grinning and let out a laugh of delight.

They descended deeper and deeper into the bank, passing increasingly high security vaults. After going through a magical waterfall to strip all disguises, the cart continued for another five minutes before coming to a screeching stop outside of a vault that had…nothing guarding it.

Iris looked at the vault in suspicion. Why would such a high security vault not have a dragon or some other fearsome beast guarding it? Something was wrong with this picture. She glanced at Griphook, dread spreading through her at his carefully blank expression. He had a strange looking rod in his hand as he gingerly stepped out of the cart.

Iris followed Griphook, eyes darting around to try and locate the source of her sudden increased unease.

"Be prepared to cast fire…or the Patronus charm."

_Shit! Wait, I can't sense a Dementor, so what…Lethifolds._

Iris tensed as rippling black cloaks drifted out of the darkness. The creatures didn't attack however, opting to stay far away from Iris, making their way towards Griphook instead.

Pressing a rune on the strange rod, a large flame leapt out, licking at the advancing creatures. They screamed, sounding far too much like a Dementor for her peace of mind. So absorbed in watching the creatures flee the flames, she was unaware of the Lethifold sneaking up behind her. Her magic blared a warning, but no attack came. Instead one of the strangest things occurred. The Lethifold brushed up against her legs, simply hovering there, not actually doing anything but gently brushing against her.

"The fuck!" With a scream she leapt backwards, only to trip and fall on her ass. Griphook had whirled around at her scream, gaping at the sight that met his eyes.

The Lethifold had draped itself along Iris's back and lap like a demented cloak. She clawed at it, panicking. The creature didn't move, nor did it hurt her. A strange rumbling sound emitted from the large Lethifold. Iris stopped trying to pry the creature off, as it wasn't trying to suffocate her. Deciding that it was just one more thing to add to her list of the impossible becoming possible, Iris pat the Lethifold, jumping as it purred.

_Did it just purr?_

Moving stiffly, Iris stood, her wand flying back into her hand from where she had dropped it. The Lethifold covered her back and most of her waist. It was soft, surprisingly so. It was also warm, something that she would not have equated with the cousin of the Dementors.

_Fucking Hallows._

There was no other explanation for it. She closed her eyes, growling under her breath. She was probably all sorts of insane to let the Lethifold continue draping itself all over her, but she really didn't care at the moment. Ignoring the other Lethifolds now swarming her, vying for her attention like puppies, she stopped and stared in disbelief as the large Lethifold on her back hissed and attacked the other smaller ones. It chased the others off, which was hilarious to watch seeing as they looked like floating blankets or cloaks.

Iris had the impression that the Lethifold was smug as it resumed its previous spot on her body. Poor Griphook was still frozen in shock, rod continuing to spew out fire. He snapped out of his shock when the other Lethifolds began to get too close for comfort again.

He jogged to catch up to Iris, aiming the rod at the following Lethifolds. Iris paid Griphook little attention, focusing instead on the large vault door. The sign of the Deathly Hallows was engraved on it. She waited for Griphook to catch up before actually doing anything.

"You will have to put some of your blood on the door, it will either accept you, or reject you…violently." She narrowed her eyes at Griphook. The Lethifold tightened around her briefly before loosening again.

She pressed her index finger against one of her fangs, pulling away when the taste of blood filled her mouth. She pressed her finger in the middle of the door in a small depression. A curious sensation washed over her, like her magic was being _tasted_ of all things.

The door suddenly melted away, revealing the treasures hidden within. Iris gaped at the amount of gold she saw.

Stepping into the vault, she began to sift through the many items hidden within. She zeroed in on a section filled with scrolls and books, eagerly looking over each. She grabbed a chest, carelessly dumping out the jewels in a pile so that she could put books in it instead.

She turned to the Goblin that was taking sanctuary inside the vault with her. "Is there a way for me to get money without having to carry it all around with me?" The Goblin looked at her in surprise. She felt like she was missing some vital information.

"Yes, there are leather purses that you can buy starting at twenty Galleons, there are different options for both men and women. They will transfer the requested amount of currency to you directly from the vault you set it up to. It can be set to multiple vaults. Three drops of blood will bind the purse to you, preventing anyone from stealing or opening it."

"I would like to see what the options are." Nodding at Iris, Griphook pulled out a box similar to the one she had seen on Axegrinder's desk, only much smaller. Tapping it with his finger, it grew in size until it looked exactly like the one Axegrinder had used. He tapped it again before opening it.

Iris looked at the options critically, immediately rejecting the flamboyant ones. She chose a black dragon leather purse with gold stitched into it. Showing it to Griphook he smiled a toothy smile.

"That will be fifty Galleons." She sighed at the price, but still bought it. Pricking her finger again with a fang, she let three drops of blood fall onto a small rune located on the bottom of the purse. It glowed green, showing that it had accepted her blood and bonded with her magical signature.

She went back to scouring the vault, picking up things here and there, while steering clear of others. Especially the skeletons. She didn't want to know why they were in the vault.

She soon decided that she needed to start shopping if she was going to get everything done today.

Battling, in Griphook's case, their way back to the cart, Iris tried futilely to pry off the Lethifold still clinging to her. She tossed in the towel with disgust as the beast started to strangle her. She cast an illusion on it with Griphook's permission, making it look like a fancy cloak.

The ride back to the surface proved harrowing as the Lethifold clung desperately to her, trying its level best not to get blown away. Iris eventually had to give in and hold the thing as it shivered in her arms, wrapped tightly around her waist and legs. She glowered at it, annoyed that she couldn't get rid of the pest. Griphook kept shooting it wary looks, uneasy with the Lethifold so close to him.

Iris wasted no time in hopping out of the cart, untangling the Lethifold and letting it re-attach itself to her back. Rolling her eyes at the grumbles the creature was emitting, she suddenly had the humorous thought of the _Monster Book of Monsters_ and the Lethifold battling. She wondered who would win in such a situation, the killer cloak or the vicious book.

Making her way out of the bank, she cast a warming charm when a rush of cold air smacked her in the face. Setting off, she made her way to _Zamara's Robes_. _Madam Malkin's_ apparently didn't exist yet. If she remembered correctly, it wouldn't be built until her parents went to school.

Entering the shop, she was met by an old woman. She had black, graying hair pulled up into a bun and dark brown eyes. Her skin was a darker color, but looked more like a dark tan. She still retained a sort of youthful beauty, just less noticeable.

"I would like a full wardrobe." The woman's eyes lit up. A magical tape measure began taking her measurements. The woman scribbled down the results.

"I would like Acromantula silk robes in several colors that will complement my skin, hair, and eyes." Iris wanted to make a good impression on the Purebloods of this time.

After delivering her requirements, Iris was told that the clothes would be ready in two days, seeing as Madam Zamara was closing the store on Christmas, which was tomorrow.

Hurrying across the street, Iris entered a surprisingly busy _Flourish and Blotts_. Deciding to pick up a few books for herself in order to catch up on the recent history and current events, Iris weaved her way through the last minute shoppers. She grabbed a basket and went to town, grabbing book after book. She was passing by the children's section when she came to a halt.

Tom Riddle.

Her breath hitched and she felt a hysterical bubble of laughter threaten to escape her. She leaned against the shelf, her eyes staring at the children's books across the aisle from her current position. The sound of murmured conversations dimmed as she lost herself to her thoughts.

_That's right, Tom Riddle will be turning six years old on the thirty-first of December at midnight. I had completely forgotten about him until now. Though I have had a lot on my mind. Should I adopt him? I know he didn't have a good_ _childhood and that_ _helped twist him into a monster. But how much of a monster would be have been had he had a good childhood?_

She knew no one was born evil, and couldn't stomach the thought of hurting a child.

Iris took a deep breath, knowing that despite everything Voldemort had done to her, that she would be adopting Tom Riddle. A humorless smile stretched her lips. She never thought that she would one-day vow to protect and care for Voldemort, or his younger self, Tom Riddle.

Looking at the children's books, she chose a few promising looking ones, and books for learning to control magic at a younger age than eleven. She would need to get him a practice wand from _anyone_ but Ollivander.

Grabbing a few more books, she got in line, reading one of them while waiting for her turn to pay. The clerk shrunk the books and placed them in a bag for her. She had declined the offer to wrap them, wanting to wrap Tom's presents herself.

"Do you know where I can get a training wand?" The clerk paused as he went to call for the next customer.

"_Ollivanders_ and _Tiny Magic_ both carry training wands. The second store is one that also carries items for children and infants." Smiling at the tired looking man, she wandered around looking for _Tiny Magic_. Finally spotting it next to a pet store, Iris wandered inside. The building looked fairly new, having yet to gain that ancient vibe that most of the other stores gave off.

She was assaulted by bright, vibrant color and noise. She wondered if Fred and George had modeled their joke shop after _Tiny Magic_.

Wanting to spend as little time as possible in the store, Iris stopped a harassed employee.

"Excuse me, can you please point me to the training wands?" The woman shifted on her feet.

"They are over near the counter in a glass case. I'll have to retrieve one for you if you wish to purchase one." Iris smiled and nodded her head. The employee led her over to a huge glass case with hundreds of training wands inside it.

"Which one would you like?" Iris gave the woman a confused look. Weren't the wands all the same? She peered in the large glass case a little more closely and gaped.

_Was that wand pink and sparkly?_

_Creepy._

_Extremely creepy._

_So creepy and disturbing that I want to Oblivate myself._

_Oh gods! I can't even look at it without being blinded._

Why_ would you give a small child a wand encrusted with precious gems?_

_Oh hell no!_

_Argh! Are there no simple black, brown, or white wands?_

_That one strongly resembles Umbitch's stubby wand. It needs to be destroyed._

_Maybe I should just take Tom to buy a real wand in Knockturn Alley._

Looking almost frantically for a nice, _normal_ looking wand, her eyes alit on one that was a pale white, with a little painted black snake coiled around the handle, tongue flickering out every now and then.

_Oh, Tom will love this one. It's event the same color of his future Yew wand._

Pointing at the desired wand, Iris watched the woman tap her wand against the glass. The training wand vanished and reappeared in the woman's empty hand.

"This one is five Galleons, do you want to pay now, or shop some more?" Iris looked at the store full of chaos and shook her head. Iris traded the woman five Galleons for the wand on the spot and booked it out of there.

The poor Lethifold was traumatized by the light and noise, nearly strangling Iris. She herself was traumatized, more so by the wands than the actual store.

Neither of them were as happy to see snow as they were at that moment.

_Ah, the glorious muffling ability of snow._

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Iris wandered down Knockturn Alley, ignoring the lustful looks she was receiving. She let the dark part of her aura flood the area, practically suffocating others in its intensity. The Lethifold lashed out when a particularly brave Vampire reached for her in a daze. With an unmanly shriek, the Vampire sped away from her and her vicious…pet. She pat the Lethifold, stroking it as it purred proudly.

_Imagine Dumbledore's face if he saw me now._

She cackled mentally, making her way into _Borgin and Burkes_. A bell tinkled as she opened the door. She wrinkled her nose in disdain, the place was every bit as filthy as it was in the future. She walked in further, picking up the Hand of Glory on her way. Borgin Sr. came out of the shadows, beady eyes watching her every move.

"I plan to buy this Mr. Borgin." She set the Hand of Glory on the counter, glancing down as she did. Her heart stopped, eyesight narrowing to focus on the heavy oval locket made of gold with emeralds forming an S under the glass.

"I'll take the locket…for no more than the ten Galleons you paid the woman you bought it from Mr. Borgin." She turned her head slowly, eyes glowing. Her magic caused the air temperature to drop. Their breath fogged in front of them, ice crawling over the glass in the shop. It felt like a Dementor was in the room with them. Borgin paled, swaying under the pressure of Iris's magic. The Lethifold tightened around her, seeking her warmth.

"Y—yes my Lady. He scurried around the counter to give her the locket. He was trembling so badly that he almost dropped it.

"Put only the Hand of Glory in a bag. I plan to wear the locket." The man nodded vigorously, rushing to comply with her demands. The bell tinkled, and several men walked into the shop, only to stumble and pale drastically.

Iris had yet to pull in her magic, letting it diffuse through the shop instead. She began reeling it in when she saw who had stumbled in. Abraxas Malfoy and his father, along with the Black and Lestrange Lords and their respective children were staring at her wide-eyed. The small children looked at her in awe, while the adults in an entirely inappropriate manner.

"M—My Lady?" Iris turned back to Borgin, noting that he was holding out the locket for her to take. She accepted the heavy locket from him, slipping it on over her head. She pulled her long curly hair out from under it and tucked it into her robes.

She reached into the money pouch, mentally thinking about ten Galleons. She handed the money over to Borgin.

"How much is the Hand of Glory?" Borgin looked from the Hand of Glory to her several times. He looked indecisive, and she arched a brow at him.

"Ten Galleons my Lady." The men behind her gasped at the outrageously low price; the Hand of Glory was worth at _least_ one hundred Galleons.

"Excellent." She once again handed over the required amount of money, done with her shopping in _Borgin and Burkes_. She turned to leave after shrinking the bag, only to come to a halt due to the live barricade at the door. Pursing her lips, Iris gracefully glided forward, the Lethifold rippling along her skin.

"Excuse me Lords Lestrange, Black, and Malfoy, but I would be very appreciative if you could let me through to the door." She put on her 'Pureblood bitch' attitude, acting like any other Pureblood Lady would.

The men parted automatically, before Malfoy snapped out of it.

"Pardon my rudeness my Lady, but who are you?" Iris paused, then with a smirk that they couldn't see with her back to them, she turned, face now blank.

She smiled a very sinister smile. "Iris Peverell-LeFay-Ravenclaw-Gryffindor-Emrys." With that bombshell, she swept out of the shop, laughing at their stunned faces when they caught sight of the rings on her hands. She let the rings disappear again, only to re-appear on the bracelet.

Unknown to the occupants of the shop, she cast a silent geas on them, preventing them from telling anyone but their families. The geas was also set to jump on the rest of the family once they found out. They could talk about it, but only if they were alone. She didn't want the whole world to know just yet. She really did not need Grindelwald or Dumbledore on her case until Tom was older and could defend himself adequately.

She continued laughing as she made her way deeper into Knockturn Alley. She was aware of the men and their sons rushing to catch up to her. She rolled her eyes, gods they were obvious. She knew her titles would gain instant attention, which she needed politically.

If she was stuck in this time, then she was damn well shaking things up and making waves. She had noticed a few different things since arriving here, leading her to think that she had inadvertently created an alternate timeline. So, she could mess around with the past all she wanted.

She walked into a promising looking pet shop, sparing a brief glance at the old Hag staring at her intently. She meandered through the store, peering into various cages and tanks. She came to a stop at the back wall of the shop, aware that the men and their children had followed her the entire time. She glanced at a tank, watching them in its reflection.

Malfoy was opening and closing his mouth, unable to form the words he wanted to say.

"Are you really Lady LeFay?" Abraxas slapped a hand over his mouth, blushing. His father scowled at him. Iris gave a small smile, marveling at just how much Abraxas looked like his future son and grandson. Considering that Abraxas's mother was rumored to be a Pureblood Veela, it was no wonder that the Malfoy genes were so strong if it were true.

"Yes. Can I help you gentlemen?" Her eyes were sharp; she knew that she had their full attention. Hopefully they would be willing to form alliances with her. She had a Wizengamot Seat for each of the titles she carried. At a total of five, she had a lot of political voting power.

"Is there a time that we can meet, my wife would be delighted to meet another woman of outstanding pedigree?" Iris stared at Black in disbelief.

_Did he really just say 'pedigree'? I'm not a dog!_

"Yes, I will send you a letter later this week. I have just recently joined the British community and would like the chance to get my affairs in order before socializing Lord Black." She forced herself not to growl. She hated acting like this. Maybe politics weren't such a good idea.

Lords Malfoy and Lestrange both expressed similar requests, to which she agreed. Finally, they wandered off after grilling her for more information.

Iris turned around, looking at the eggs lining the shelves along the back wall. There were several, each being in a stasis. A blue and silver snake egg caught her eye, she looked at the tag.

**Silvertongue Snake. 250 Galleons.**

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at the price, she shrugged, deciding that since she was filthy rich, she might as well buy it. What horrible logic.

She carefully picked up the egg, noting the anti-theft wards surrounding it. Ah, so it could only be picked up if one was willing to pay for it. There was a flaw in intention wards though. If one was a Master Occulomens, then their true intent could be hidden and could therefore trick the wards.

Iris ran her eyes over the rest of the tags, handing the egg to the Lethifold so she could pick up two more. One was a basilisk and the other a phoenix. She had plans, big plans for the basilisk egg.

She made way back to the front of the store, her Lethifold still holding the Silvertongue snake egg. She placed the two eggs on the counter, then took the one from the Lethifold, which promptly spread out over her body again. She was surprised that the men hadn't noticed the beast. Though, it did still resemble an expensive cloak rather than a ferocious creature even when moving. The Hag flinched away from her, hurriedly packing away the three eggs, wanting the dark creature away from her.

Iris withdrew the required two thousand, four hundred Galleons and handed them over in a sack. The Hag placed the sack on a scale, not daring to try and cheat Iris out of her money. Satisfied that her customer had paid the required amount, the Hag handed over the box, which Iris promptly shrunk and placed in her pocket.

Stepping outside into the freezing cold, Iris reapplied the heating charm that had since worn off after applying it when she first left Gringotts. The Lethifold purred and burrowed against her, seeking the heavenly warmth she was emitting.

Iris stroked the Lethifold, slowly making her way back towards Diagon Alley. She needed to stop by the Ministry, which was open even on Christmas Eve, and schedule to take her NEWTS.

Iris cursed and hexed the few who were foolish enough to attack her. After killing two Vampires and one Werewolf, the other inhabitants of Knockturn left her alone, giving her a wide berth.

Re-entering Diagon Alley was disconcerting. It was almost like going from night to day in a matter of seconds. Making her way swiftly to the Leaky Cauldron, Iris hurried inside, the Lethifold snuggled tight against her.

Dropping three knuts into the small pot on the mantle, Iris was rewarded with a handful of floo powder.

"Ministry of Magic!" Speaking clearly and concisely, Iris tossed in the powder. The flames turned green and she hurriedly stepped into them.

The world spun around her at a dizzying speed. The poor Lethifold nearly strangled her to death in its terror. It chittered in anger when she stepped out of the floo.

"Shh, I'm sorry that I forgot to warn you, now pipe down, I don't want you discovered." The Lethifold grumbled a bit, nipping her before relaxing and falling silent. Fortunately, there weren't many people in the Atrium. Glaring at the fountain as though it had committed some grave offense against her, Iris longed to blast it to smithereens.

She came to a stop at the security check. She handed over her first wand to the sleepy guard. He ran it through the records, giving her a slip of paper with the results. She continued on, leaving her wand behind, knowing that she had other wands and could use wandless magic anyways. Besides, she had blood bound all of her wands to herself, enabling them to respond only to her and always come at her summons.

She entered one of the golden elevators, smiling at the half-asleep occupants. She reclined in the corner, the Lethifold shifting to find a more comfortable position. She was glad that the illusion was still holding on the animal. If it moved too much however, the illusion would shatter, revealing the monster hidden beneath.

Coming to her stop, she quickly made her way to the door labeled NEWTS. Knocking, she waited for the affirmative before opening the door.

An old lady looked up at her from her knitting. She had a kind face and gentle demeanor. Looks could be deceiving though, and this little granny had a core of steal where her family's safety was concerned. Never underestimate little old ladies, especially those with deadly knitting needles.

"Hello Mrs. Marabellen, I would like to schedule a date to sit my NEWTS." Mrs. Marabellen smiled at the polite young lady.

"Of course dearie. There is an opening on the tenth if that will work for you at eight in the morning."

"Yes, that will be fine. Do I just come back to this office at eight then?" Mrs. Marabellen nodded.

"Yes, I will take you to the examination room where examiners will test you." Mrs. Marabellen handed over a packet of forms for Iris to fill out.

"Is it ok if I fill these out now?" Mrs. Marabellen nodded once again, turning her attention back to the baby booties she was knitting.

A half hour later, Iris had finished filling out the last form before handing the stack back to Mrs. Marabellen

"I suppose I'll see you on the tenth then. Have a Happy Christmas and New Years."

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The portkey dropped her unceremoniously in front of a massive set of gates. A large manor sprawled across the impeccable grounds. She grinned, well the stasis charms seemed to be in effect. The parchment from the vault was right. She grimaced as she mentally calculated just how many House Elves the manor was going to require.

The Lethifold was hissing and growling at her.

"Oh stop it."

Giving some of her blood to the symbol of the Deathly Hallows on the gate like she had the vault, Iris made her way up to the Manor. Actually, she was incredibly lazy and just flamed to the front door.

Entering the manor, Iris decided that choosing and preparing rooms for herself and Tom was more important than exploring the manor, Iris made her way up the huge staircase. Her footsteps echoed on the marble floor and stairs. The marble was black with white veins running through it. She eventually succeeded in finding the Master bedroom and Heir bedroom after what felt like forever, she decided that her room was perfectly fine the way it was. Tom's was going to need some changes though.

She chose a room close to hers for Tom to stay in. She used her wand to change the blue walls to a crème and the bed hangings to an emerald green. The duvet also changed to a black with the Slytherin Crest on it in the middle. The pillowcases and decorative pillows became crème and dark green respectively. There was a Slytherin Crest in the middle of each pillow as well. Satisfied with his bed and walls, she turned to the furniture.

The desk she enlarged and turned a dark color, its wood gleaming richly. She transfigured the chair to match the desk. Its seat cushions became a crème color to match the walls.

Iris peeked into the bathroom, grinning at the sight of the magical toilet. She had no idea why Hogwarts made the toilets look and act like Muggle toilets when their magical counterparts where so much better.

She changed the towel color to black rather than the original brown. She left the bathroom after that, seeing noting else that needed to be changed.

She decided to get something to eat, grinning as she did so. She would take Tom some food and books for Christmas. She wasn't sure yet if she would show herself to him or not before being ready to adopt him.

She was too tired to go see him tonight on Christmas Eve though, she had had a long day and still had to unpack all of her purchases.

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Iris yawned, stretching as she woke. The sun streamed into the room from the large glass window. She groaned, turning over and pulling the pillow over her head.

Casting a quick Tempus, she gaped at the time. Ten, ten! How the hell had she managed to sleep so late? She always got up at seven at the latest. She wondered if it had anything to do with her traveling through time and not really having the time to just relax recently.

So today was Christmas, the day she was going to go see Tom for the first time. She had had the strangest dream last night. She wondered if it meant anything. Shrugging, and deciding that dreaming about giving Tom cryptic messages and a pendant were unimportant, she flipped back the covers.

Getting out of bed, she decided that she might as well explore the rest of the manor and make changes. She also needed to make sure that none of the stasis charms had failed. She thought it would be best if she went to see Tom that night so that she wouldn't run into the Muggles. She pushed aside the niggling feeling of foreboding.

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Iris appeared under her invisibility cloak outside of Wool's Orphanage. It was Christmas night and few people were out on the snow-covered streets. The snow crunched under her feet, and she cursed. She was lucky that there were no Muggles around to see the anomaly.

Flaming over to the other side of the gate, she cast a notice-me-not charm before removing the cloak. The Lethifold snuggled against her as the cold hit it. It didn't mind flaming around, not that she could blame it. The flames felt deliciously warm and soothing. Plus there were no nasty side effects that other forms of magical transportation tended to induce.

She unlocked the door, silencing it before pushing it open. It was a good thing that she did when she got a good look at the rusted hinges. The building was dark, its occupants asleep for the night. A thunderous snoring roared through the building

_Poor Tom. I pity you, I truly do._

Creeping up the stairs, Iris belatedly remembered to silence her feet and the staircase when a stair creaked obscenely. She cringed, eyes darting around as the snoring stopped briefly. She applied the silencing charm to her feet and the staircase, making sure that she would make no more noise.

Once at the top of the staircase, she turned to the left, knowing that Tom's room was number twenty-seven. She counted silently in her head, her eyes easily able to pierce the darkness thanks to her Vampire genes.

Coming to a stop outside of Tom's room, she carefully opened his door, and saw…an empty room. She stiffened, a chill of foreboding trickling down her spine. She wandered further into the room, yet there was no sign of Tom Riddle. Something was wrong.

Iris hurried out the room, several scenarios popping up in her head. She made her way down to the office, hoping that there would be a clue as to where Tom was. She flew down the stairs, wasting little time in locating the office from Tom's memories…wait…his memories!

Iris concentrated on his sixth Christmas, looking for the reason he wasn't in his room that night. Her sense of foreboding grew overwhelming. There was something…the exorcism!

Her eyes snapped open and she threw on her invisibility cloak and flamed to an alley near the Church from Tom's memories. She tore off the cloak and stuffed it into a pocket. Using her Fae and Vampire speed to run to the doors of the Church in a blur, she flung open the doors…only to get a face full of glass that she barely managed to throw up a shield to block before being hit.

In front of the alter, Tom sat tied to a wooden chair. He screamed as his magic lashed out. The Priest was sent flying and all the glass in the building shattered. He heard the others in the room screaming in terror and pain, but he didn't care.

Opening his eyes, which were glowing, he glared at his torturers. The Priest stumbled to his feet, enraged and terrified. He stalked forward on unsteady feet, blood staining his clothes.

"So, the demon has come out to play!" He yelled at Tom, spittle flying from his mouth. He went to hit the young boy, when a red light struck him. He went down, thrashing and screaming, clawing at his skin. The Church went silent except for the now whimpering Priest. Everyone turned to look in the direction the beam of light had come from.

Iris was spitting mad. The Lethifold draped over her sensed her anger and reacted to it. It flared out menacingly.

She stunned the people in the Church more enthusiastically than strictly necessary. Paying particular attention to Mrs. Cole, who she slammed into a pew with the force of her spell. She stalked forwards, her magic causing ice to form on the stone under her. The candles and gaslights began to snuff out, leaving the flickering electric lights as the only source of light in the Church.

Tom stared at the avenging goddess in awe, recognizing her as the woman from his dream last night. Her hair crackled with magic, an invisible wind sifting through it. Her lips were curled over fangs in a snarl. Red outlined her green eyes, glowing in the dim Church.

She began Oblivating the Muggles, then repairing the damage reluctantly. She even more reluctantly healed them, wanting noting more than to add a few more injuries. She erased all signs of an altercation.

Making her way over to Tom at long last, she vanished the rope and healed his injuries. She pulled the boy against her, feeling him shaking in shock. She knew that he would fire question after question at her as soon as he came out of his shock, but for now, he clung to her.

Casting time delayed Ennervates at the others in the Church, set to activate in thirty seconds, Iris hugged Tom even closer.

"Let's get out of here." With those last whispered words, she and Tom vanished into a flash of blue flames, disappearing right as the Priest started to stir.

Fortunately for Iris, she was an adult and had used wandless magic, so the Ministry of Magic remained blissfully unaware of the night's events.

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I'm not happy with this chapter; it just simply did not want to be written. A promise is a promise, so I'm posting it today. I might go back and change parts of it, but I'll mention that in the chapter that I post after doing so.


	3. Tom's Second Chance

A/N: I changed a small part on Borgin and Burkes to make more sense for later in the story. Beware of the spoiler directly below. I've been working on this when I take study breaks, so some of the wording might seem…off.

***Spoiler Begin***

I decided that Grindelwald won't actually hear about Iris until Tom goes to Hogwarts. Iris decides to wait to get heavily involved in politics as well, wanting to train Tom and work from behind the scenes. She does claim the Peverell Seat four years after she adopts Tom. During those four years, she is busy setting up businesses and learning the ins and outs of politics from her allies. Only when she feels Tom is ready will Iris unveil her titles. Grindelwald will have been intrigued by the name Peverell long before that. Oh, I'm making Gellert's eyes violet rather than blue.

There will be many time skips so that it doesn't take forever to have Gellert appear. I'll throw in flashbacks every now and then. Tom will not display any sexual attraction towards Iris until he's almost fourteen. There will be no sexual interactions between Iris and Tom until he's fifteen at the earliest. That does not mean that Gellert and Iris won't do naughty things to each other before then. Tom will try to get Iris's attention when he's fourteen, but she ignores his attempts.

***Spoiler End***

**Chapter Three: Tom's Second Chance**

***Germany***

Gellert Grindelwald sighed as he turned away from the newest recruits. Hitler was his puppet and a man that he would later delight in killing. Gellert was a strange man, a sociopath, but one with a love for pranks and humor. He smirked as he recalled the panicking of his followers when he got bored and decided to prank them. Pranks were so underappreciated. He was more of a child than a man at times, which was when he was the most dangerous.

Strolling down the hall, he stopped outside of his study, admiring the intricate woodwork. He opened the door, making his way to the large desk in the middle of the room. On it was all the information he had on the Deathly Hallows. He had been searching for them now for several years. In all that time, he had only managed to locate the Elder Wand, which was now missing.

Gellert had gone berserk, torturing his followers left and right. He still had no idea what had become of the wand. Sighing, he ran a hand through his blond hair, breathing deeply. He needed to begin planning attacks for his war campaign. He groaned as thoughts of Hitler plagued him. The man was a true monster. Gellert knew that many people would call him a monster, but at least he wasn't contemplating rounding up the Jews and throwing them in hell. He also wasn't targeting mothers or children. Only the men that resisted, and if a woman just wouldn't stay out of the way, then she signed her own death warrant.

The whole point of his war was to prevent the Muggleborns from re-entering the Muggle world, and to prevent Muggles from raising a magical child. Arianna had convinced him that letting the Muggles kill each other off before he struck them as well was good idea.

Grindelwald clenched his fists as he thought of the vermin that he so longed to exterminate. Oh, how he hated Muggles. They were little more than filth. He looked at the small portrait of Arianna, which he kept to remind himself why he was going to wage war. He still wasn't sure who had fired the spell that ended her life, and felt bad about her death, but only because she was a magical child at the time.

Violet eyes gazed out the tall glass window in his study. The sky was a beautiful blue, with white fluffy clouds and a small breeze. The snow outside sparkled in the sun, making it look more like fairy dust rather than snow. A prank idea entered his mind then, a truly evil one. A smile curled his lips, a smile that would have sent those who saw it running for cover.

_Let's see how my men fare against the elements. _

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Tom felt like he was floating, that he was surrounded by warmth. He clung tighter to the woman holding him as they reappeared in a large entry hall. He barely glanced at his surroundings before burying his face against Iris.

Tom took deep, gasping breaths, trying to calm the panic that he was feeling. He didn't know if the woman would hurt him, but something about her, aside from looking just like the woman from his dream, was comforting. He grabbed fistfuls of her shirt, refusing to be pulled away.

Iris sighed, first the Lethifold, now Tom Riddle. There was no way she was letting him cling to her like the Lethifold.

Said Lethifold didn't quite know what to make of the small human child clinging to its human. It brushed against the arm of the boy, causing him to jump and stare at the apparently alive cloak. He had seen it flare out around the woman, but had thought it to be a cloak. He stiffened when it chittered at him.

"My name is Iris." If possible, Tom grew stiffer, he slowly turned his head up to look at Iris. Their eyes clashed, green against ice blue.

"You're real." It was Iris's turn to stiffen, she really hoped that he wasn't referring to what she thought he was.

"I beg your pardon?" He gave her a strange look, still not letting go of her.

"The dream, the one where you gave me the pendent." One hand let go of her clothes, dipping into his ratty shirt. He pulled out a pendant that Iris instantly recognized. She groaned, cursing fate for once again making her life difficult.

"Ah, _that_ dream." Iris watched Tom tuck the pendant away, clutching at her again. "Tom, I really need you to let go of me so that I can explain things, feed you, get you cleaned up, then stuff…I mean tuck you into bed." She mentally cursed herself for using the phrasing the Weasley Twins liked to use.

"No." His eyes were icy, and he glared at her menacingly. Little did Iris know, but Tom was well aware of, was her magic cocooning his with the close contact. He felt warm and…happy, or at least content for the first time, and he was _not_ about to go back to his cold and lonely existence. Not that he knew it was magic per say, just that she was special like him.

"I'm going to have to pry you off aren't I?" Iris said this out loud, scowling down at the small boy.

_First the Lethifold, now an orphan. _

Tom nearly strangled her when he suddenly tightened his arms around her. The hissing and growling Lethifold earned a sneer from Tom, clearly willing to fight over who got to use her as their personal teddy bear.

"Fine, but you have to let go of me when you go clean yourself up." Tom looked ready to argue that point, but Iris pulled out the 'Severus Snape deluxe' glare. It did the trick. Iris stood from her kneeling position, being forced to pick up Tom when he refused to let go of her upper body.

Grumbling to herself about stubborn orphans that were traumatized, she stomped to the living room. Thankfully, she still had the food she had been planning to give to Tom.

Plopping onto the cushy couch, she began digging for the preserved food in her bag. Tom had readjusted himself, though hissed at the Lethifold as it shifted to get more comfortable and brushed against him again. Iris rolled her eyes, gods they were already giving her a headache. Who bothered to compete with a Lethifold for attention anyways? It was a killer cloak, not a puppy.

Giving a cry of triumph, she grasped the basket that had an expansion charm on the inside. She silently summoned soup, knowing from experience just how little food the stomach could handle after prolonged starvation. The tempting scent of soup, she thought it might be a chicken soup of some sort, wafted up to them. She brought it closer to Tom. Growling in frustration when he eyed it suspiciously.

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Tom watched Iris in curiosity, the freakish cloak creature temporarily put on the backburner. He turned his body so that he was partially reclining against her, still reveling in the feeling of her magic washing over him. His eyes began to close sleepily, his shock having worn off not long after being brought to…wherever they were. He fought sleep as he spotted the soup, then smelt it. He eyed it distrustfully, who knew what was in it.

He heard Iris growl, tentatively, he reached out for the food, hands trembling only slightly from exhaustion. He cradled the warm container, watching in fascination as some sort of bubble that had kept the soup from sloshing out, popped. Iris steadied his hands as the soup threatened to splash out over the sides of the container as his shaking grew worse. Iris shifted, wrapping one arm around him and scooting back against the arm of the couch to provide better support.

He let her help keep his hand steady as he spooned up some of the soup. He almost groaned in appreciation when the taste registered, the warmth soothing on his raw throat. He lost track of all sense of time as he entered a half-awake half-asleep state. He vaguely registered Iris setting the empty container on the small coffee table by the couch. He turned, burrowing into Iris sleepily. He was out like a light in seconds.

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Iris stared at the stone walls covered in tapestries. While the bedrooms had walls that were wood paneled, the other rooms tended to be covered in tapestries, portraits, or wallpaper in some cases. The white couch with ivy designs that shifted to match the ivy and mirror tapestry on the wall's movements was soft and cushy. She felt the Lethifold shift again, clearly not too pleased about being unable to wrap around her like it had been able to before Tom came into the picture.

She sighed as Tom fell asleep against her. It was unfortunate that she had not gotten the chance to explain things to him, or given him a bath. She cast a mouth cleansing charm that cleaned his teeth, only causing Tom to stir and grumble before falling back into a deep sleep.

Standing carefully, she made sure that Tom was supported before making her way up to his room. Passing door after door, Iris finally came to the room she was looking for. With his name on a gold plate on the outside of the door, there was no mistaking who it belonged to.

Using one hand to open the door, she made her way over to the bed. Removing Tom's disintegrating shoes and socks, she set Tom down on top of the covers. After a brief struggle to untangle him from her clothes, she summoned a blanket to keep him warm. There was no sense in putting in him in both clean clothes and under the blankets when he was still so filthy. She also refused to bathe him, seeing as he was at the point where children began to bathe themselves, especially if you lived in an orphanage. What Iris didn't know, was that many parents continued to bathe their children beyond the age Tom was currently.

Tom shifted, huddling into a ball, from what she assumed was a habit he'd picked up at the orphanage. Iris had developed the same habit at the Dursleys' when she was a young child.

Deciding that she might as well transfigure some clothes for him when he next woke, she set out the transfigured clothes next to him on the bed. He probably wouldn't need them tonight.

Backing away, she left his door open, and a fairy light in the middle of the room. Walking swiftly to her own room, she made a beeline for the bathroom, wanting to take a bath before climbing into bed. She cast a mouth cleansing charm on herself as she entered the bathroom. She vanished her clothes, the Lethifold jumping and chittering in surprise. Rolling her eyes as it let go of her and fled the room when she turned on the water and watched it fill the large tub. The critter was like a house cat when it came to water apparently.

Iris groaned as the warm water relaxed her tense muscles that she hadn't been aware of being so tense. Closing her eyes, she allowed her mind to drift. She mentally began making a list of things that she was going to have to do in the coming days.

She stayed in the water until it grew cold, before getting out, noting with some surprise that she wasn't all wrinkly. She frowned, suddenly realizing that she had never seen her skin wrinkled from being in the water for too long. She shrugged it off, deciding that it was most likely due to her creature blood.

Summoning the bedclothes that she had forgotten to grab, she slipped on a long shirt and small boxer style shorts. Padding into her room, she gave a shout of surprise when the Lethifold wrapped itself around her. Grumbling, she stomped the rest of her way to her bed. Flipping back the covers, she climbed into bed. The magically softened mattress seemed to swallow her. It was like laying on a cloud. The pillows were every bit as wonderful.

Iris soon slipped off into a peaceful sleep, unaware of the Lethifold draping itself over her on the top of the blankets, then slipping under the covers later when it became too cold.

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Tom woke with a start, ice blue eyes darting and breath coming harshly. He suddenly remembered the events of last night, and grasped at the bed. He'd been saved. His dearest desire had finally been fulfilled. He frowned as he struggled to remember what had occurred and how he had gotten here. He gave up as pain stabbed his mind, and the images remained blurry and indistinct. He had a sudden flash of a freakish cloak like creature draped over Iris.

His nose wrinkled as he caught the scent of his dirty body and clothes. Extracting himself from the large and thick blanket, he curled his mouth in disgust. He then caught sight of the floating light, and approached it cautiously. It was a beautiful and mesmerizing light, giving off a soft gold glow. He reached out to touch it, fascinated by the electric tingles that shot across his skin. He noted that the door to his room was left open, but there was another door across from his bed that was closed.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he made his way to the door. Pushing it open, he smiled. A large and tastefully decorated bathroom met his eyes. His eyes zeroed in on the bath, and he saw no reason not to take advantage of the situation before seeking out Iris. He glowered as the tub filled with water.

_How dare she leave me in a room alone! _

He silently vowed to track her down and not let her leave his side again. Tom knew that there was something wrong with him, but he didn't really care. Tom was very much aware that he didn't feel like he should in certain situations, that enjoying other's pain was wrong. He knew that if Iris ever found out that she was now his before he could force her to stay, she'd try to leave him. That was something he just wouldn't allow. He'd tie her up and lock her away if he needed to.

Sighing in appreciation as he slipped into the warm water, he began scrubbing himself vigorously. Watching in disgust as the water began to turn dirty, he hurriedly finished cleaning himself with the bath products on the ledge, and grabbed a towel hanging near him.

Drying off, he suddenly realized he had nothing else to wear that was clean. Praying that Iris had remedied that problem, Tom wrapped the towel around his slim hips and looked at his bedroom from the bathroom doorway. His eyes widened as he finally got a good look at what his room looked like.

It was almost perfect. Iris being in it would have made it perfection. He especially liked the strange snake and shield crest. His eyes lit up when he saw that there were indeed clothes for him on the bed. Hurrying over, he inspected the silky bedclothes, rubbing the fabric between his fingers. They were soft, softer and finer than anything he had touched, let alone ever worn before.

Letting the towel slip from his hips, Tom pulled on the shirt and pants. Seeing that there were also socks and underclothes, he slipped those on as well. Taking one last look at the strange floating light, he poked his head out the bedroom door. He looked both ways, biting his lip and reaching out with his power to find Iris. He felt her off to the left, and took off in that direction.

The sky was still dark, though that didn't tell him much considering it was December, the month when the shortest day of the year fell. There was a large window made up of several smaller class pieces directly down the hall from him. As he drew closer to both the window and Iris, he silently observed the hallway, only to freeze in shocked horror.

The portraits were _moving_.

He bolted for Iris's room when one let out a particularly loud snore, setting his flight or fight instincts off. He chose to flee for Iris rather than fight a painting.

Carefully opening the door that blocked him from Iris, he silently observed her sleeping form.

Her red hair was spread out over the white pillow, looking like blood in the moonlight. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the dark room. The freakish cloak was spread out on top of the bed, making snuffling noises, and letting out small snores.

How he longed to burn it.

Tom tiptoed his way over to the opposite side of the bed, freezing when Iris shifted and mumbled in her sleep. Heart pounding all over again, he gingerly slipped under the covers, scooting closer to Iris.

In her sleep, Iris could sense a foreign magical signature, but her body instinctively sought out the heat and magic source suddenly near her. Tom stiffened when Iris rolled over into him, her arm landing back against his chest while their shoulders touched. He relaxed, closing his eyes and allowing himself to fall into an untroubled sleep.

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The Lethifold resisted the urge to kill the intruder, knowing its human would be upset if anything happened to the small human. It watched silently as the young male snuggled against its human, and grumbled quietly in discontent. The Lethifold was unable to fall back asleep for a long while, too restless with the small male so near.

Oh how it longed to eat the pest.

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Iris woke slowly, her mind sluggish, she snuggled against the warm heat along her front.

_Wait…warm heat?_

Her eyes snapped open, only to be met with dark wavy hair shining in the morning sunlight. Her eyes widened in shock, unable to comprehend that she was snuggling a young Tom Riddle. She thought about moving away, but he looked so peaceful, and he was clean, so she decided that it wouldn't hurt anything.

She should have known better than letting Tom Riddle get his way on the first night he spent with her. Give him an inch, and he'll take a mile.

The Lethifold had slipped under the blankets at some point during the night and was currently burrowed against her in a large lump. It peeked over her shoulder before losing interest and leaving the room in search of food. Iris had a feeling the wildlife was about to be traumatized.

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The Lethifold stalked its prey, pretending that it was the small male instead. It flattened itself to a tree when the young male deer looked up suspiciously. The buck went back to munching on the plants, pulling off the leaves of an innocent, magical apple tree. They always had leaves, just like any other magical fruit tree.

The Lethifold slunk its way through the bushes, being careful not to snag on anything. It froze again when the buck's head shot up. It could sense the Lethifold, but couldn't see or smell it.

One of the Lethifold's greatest advantages was not having a scent, one that it was now using to its full advantage. The buck shifted uneasily, warily going back to mutilating the poor tree. The Lethifold slithered out of the bushes, preparing itself to take down the buck.

It was seeing a small human male with ice blue eyes instead of the buck. It lunged suddenly, the buck startling and leaning away as it started to flee. It never even took a step before the Lethifold was all over it. It tightened like a noose around the buck's neck, squeezing the rest of the buck's body so hard that its bones began to break. For a flying, flesh-eating cloak, it was surprisingly strong.

The buck struggled frantically, trying to bite the Lethifold. In retaliation, it smothered and clamped its jaw shut. The buck's legs gave out, as its struggles grew weaker and weaker. The Lethifold being particularly vicious and wanting to draw out its death as it imagined the boy in the buck's place.

The buck finally died, and the Lethifold tore into it with razor sharp teeth, leaving nothing but bone in minutes. While it could take out its aggression on the wildlife, the Lethifold was a particularly smart beast and knew that its human would destroy it if the human male was harmed. The Lethifold would just have to make his life difficult then. A being that was so cruel to animals and had given off strange pheromones around its human deserved nothing less.

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Iris didn't know how long she lay there with Tom, running her hand through his hair. He eventually stirred, ice blue eyes blinking against the sunlight. He stared at her in surprise, likely having thought that she would be mad at him, but Iris only grinned at him.

"Good morning sleepy head, sleep all right?" Her sincere question seemed to have thrown poor Tom for a loop. He remained silent, fixing her with an accusing glare.

"You left me." The words were hissed, and his hands were suddenly around her neck. Shocked that Tom was lightly choking her, she grabbed his wrists, prepared to squeeze until he let go.

"Do you really think hurting me is a good idea when I could kill you with a thought?" Tom froze, his hands tightening before abruptly letting go. He glowered at her, his magic lashing at her aggressively.

Clearly Tom was well on his way to becoming Voldemort already. Iris hoped that he was still young enough for him to change. She knew just how stubborn he could be, and if he set his mind on becoming Voldemort, or ruling the world, then there wasn't anything she could do aside from staying by his side and eliminating him should he go insane this time through.

"You left me alone!" His shout caused Iris to jump and clamp her hands over her ears in pain. She gave him a dirty look.

"There's no need to shout Tom." His eyes flickered red, and nearly caused Iris to have a heart attack.

"Don't call me that!" Once again, his shout caused her to cover her ears. Tom was sitting up in bed now, leaning over her. She did not like the feeling of him towering over her, so she sat up, relishing that she was currently taller than him.

"It's your name." Her calm and dry response only aggravated Tom more. He snarled at her.

"It's a common name, I am anything but that." Iris gaped at him before losing control and laughing at him. She fell over onto her back, holding her stomach as she registered just how snooty and superior he sounded in that moment.

Tom's magic lashed out more forcefully, flinging Iris off of the bed. With a yelp, she tumbled off of the side of the bed, her laughter abruptly cutting off. Her head popped back up, her eyes peering over the bed at him in barely restrained fury. Her scar gave a brief twitch, but she ignored it, brushing it off as phantom pain. Her eyes narrowed further at his incredibly smug look.

Itching to teach the brat a lesson, Iris reined in her temper, a twitch developing at the corner of her right eye. "That's it, no presents for you until your birthday mister." She managed to grit that out before stomping over to her dresser for clothes. Grabbing the first set of robes she saw, she stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door and throwing a _Colloportus_ at it. She therefore missed Tom's small temper tantrum at the realization that she was withholding his presents that he was previously unaware of.

Jerkily, she pulled on the robes, blouse and pants that she had transfigured hidden. Throwing open the door after dispelling the ward, she saw, much to her surprise, that Tom and the Lethifold were having what looked like a standoff between them.

_Was that blood on the floor? _

Her eyes narrowed at the Lethifold, noting that it seemed…chubby. Tom looked pissed off, but was otherwise fine. The Lethifold must have had a successful hunt then.

"What are you two _doing_?" Tom and the Lethifold jerked in surprise, whirling to look at her. They had evidently been too involved in trying to stare each other down, that they had failed to register her presence.

The Lethifold lumbered its way over to her. It was quite comical, as it seemed to almost waddle as it floated due to its increased girth. She repressed a snicker. Tom however, had no reservations about laughing at it. The Lethifold hissed and snarled at Tom, looking like a fat blanket with an attitude problem rather than a vicious, flesh-eating monster.

A snort escaped her lips at the thought.

As the Lethifold settled on her shoulders and back, she teetered as she lost her balance, not having anticipated the increased weight.

Tom wandered over to her bathroom and began fixing his hair. He came back out as Iris gave a huff. She frowned, feeling like she was forgetting something.

Iris suddenly realized she had yet to name the creature. Her mind searched for an appropriate name. She grinned as one came to her.

"It's not nice to laugh at Hades Tom." Tom gave her a bewildered look, confused as to who Hades was briefly. It suddenly clicked as he realized she was referring to the Lethifold.

"Hades, the beast's name is _Hades_?" Tom sounded incredulous. Iris scowled.

"No, that's what _you_ get to call him. I on the other hand get to call him Snuggles." The Lethifold let out a strange screeching noise, almost sounding like a scream of denial.

"_Snuggles_? That's even worse than Hades." The Lethifold suddenly decided that he quite liked the name Snuggles if it disgusted the infuriating human male.

"Whatever, now, you are going to sit down and shut the hell up so that I can explain things to you, capeesh?" Tom opened and closed his mouth in shock. The woman had just cursed.

"Excellent. Now, you are a wizard, and I am a witch. This is a Lethifold, a vicious, flesh-eating beast that so happens to resemble a fat blanket at the moment. Ouch!" The Lethifold took umbrage to her comparing him to a _fat blanket_ of all things.

Iris rubbed at her sore arm where the Lethifold had nipped her. Tom gaped at her in shock.

"I have been abducted by a madwoman." Iris looked at Tom in outrage. Had he not understood that he is a wizard?

"Oh, crazy am I?" She flicked her hand at Tom, sending him shooting into the air with a scream of surprise. He panicked, flailing about like a fish out of water.

Iris smirked at him, gently setting him on the floor. He frantically patted himself down, suddenly remembering the full events of last night.

He remembered the jet of red light that had made the Priest scream so deliciously, the glass mending itself, her knocking out the others in the Church, and then her healing and cleaning up those present, himself included. He recalled being swallowed by flames and reappearing in the manor. Last night was still a blur, but his traumatized mind supplied him with the basics.

"I knew I was special." Tom's whispered words had Iris burying her face in her hands, groaning at the strong sensation of déjà vu.

"When you turn eleven, a Hogwarts letter will be sent to you. Hogwarts is the main magical school in Britain, and yes, you will get a wand." Iris cut off Tom's questions before he could really ask them.

"You will be able to come home on the holidays and go to Hogsmeade, the magical village just outside Hogwarts, though that's not until you're a Third year. There are four Houses in Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You are descended from Slytherin. I'll give you a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ for you to read." Iris stopped to let him digest all that she had told him.

"Today, we will be going into Diagon Alley to get the clothes that I ordered as well as a few other things that we will need." Tom perked up at hearing that they were going somewhere.

"What's Diagon Alley?"

"It's the main shopping district in magical Britain. There are several other places branching off of Diagon, but those are less well known, except for Knockturn Alley that is. Think of Knockturn as the seedy red-light…think of it as the slums and dangerous part of a town where criminals and thugs like to inhabit." She winced at her slip up. Tom's eyes sharpened in interest, his mind mulling over her words.

"I won't go anywhere in the clothes I have on or the ones I was wearing yesterday." Iris rolled her eyes at his snotty attitude.

"All right, your majesty." Her sarcastic barb caused Tom to narrow his eyes in suspicion. He jumped and yelped, glaring at the both Iris and the Lethifold when they snickered at him. His bedclothes had suddenly turned into a robe with pants and a shirt. The socks and underclothes had stayed the same. Iris frowned as she realized that Tom's shoes would do little to protect him from the snow. She tossed several warming charms at him, ignoring how he almost bolted away from the magic rushing at him.

Closing her eyes, she conjured two small cushions, then proceeded to transfigure them into temporary boots. She summoned her own boots, tossing Tom's at him while she pulled hers on.

Seeing that Tom was simply standing there watching her, she held out her hand impatiently. "You'll have to hold on to me if you want to come." Strolling over to Iris, Tom gave her hand a suspicious glance. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed him, pulling him against her tightly.

The trio disappeared in a flash of blue flames seconds later. Tom's shout of surprise lost in the rush of flames.


	4. Firsts

A/N: Saw a juvenile mountain beaver last night when I was exercising. I thought it was a guinea pig at first (it was night). It was so cute. They are much cuter in real life than the pictures online. Sorry about the wait, I've been taking placement tests and I'm pretty much brain-dead afterwards. So much math, please just put me out of my misery. Don't forget about the poll on my profile page. Tom refers to the Lethifold as Hades, and Iris refers to him as Snuggles when they are thinking about him. If neither are thinking about him, then it will just be Snuggles. In the flashbacks, Hades will only be used from third person, past point of view, as if it were happening right at that moment when in relation to Tom.

*If you have a fear of long words, don't continue reading the A/N*

_Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia_, the fear of _long _words. Just looking at the word makes me want to run away screaming. Irony anyone? Yes, let's give the phobia for long words a name that those affeted by it can't even look at it, let alone say it. I apologize if someone does have that phobia and reads this. How the hell do you even pronounce that…word…thing? I tried so many times, and each attempt was an epic fail. My dad, who is a medical doctor, thought it was really funny. He could pronounce it correctly…figures. I tried saying it, and he went, 'oh do you mean…' not cool dad, not cool.

**Chapter Four: Firsts**

Tom tore himself from Iris's arms, glaring at her.

"Where have you taken me?" His hissed words drew only a slightly annoyed look from Iris, much to his consternation.

"I thought we had already covered this cousin, we are at Diagon Alley." Tom stared at her blankly for a moment.

"Cousin?" Iris smacked her head. She couldn't believe she had forgotten that little tidbit. "We are very, _very_ distantly related, but that's the case with pretty much all Purebloods and Halfbloods."

"Wha—"

"Through the Peverells, and stay close to me." She held out her hand, which he ignored for all of three seconds before giving in. Tom might hate human contact, but he was also starved of it.

"Purebloods are those families with no Muggles in the family that are less distant than great, great grandparents. Halfbloods, which is what both you and I are, come from a Pureblood and a Muggleborn or a Pureblood and a Muggle. Last but not least, the Muggleborns have Muggle parents, and the Squibs Magical parents. Squibs and Muggles don't have magic." Tom looked to be deep in thought, his forehead furrowed in concentration.

"What do you know of my family?" Iris cringed as they walked, the snow crunching under their feet.

"I don't think that now is the right time to be discussing your family, you've had a harrowing experience, and the last thing you need is more stress added to your plate.

"I have every right to know about my family." He hissed the words at her, nearly slipping into Parseltongue. His eyes flickered red again, and her scar prickled.

Tom's mind was creating and discarding several thoughts at a frightening rate. He eventually settled on one, deciding that he would try and get as much out of the odd situation as possible before he lost the chance.

"We'll continue this discussion later Tom." Tom glared at her for using his name. "Live with it." Her response didn't improve Tom's souring mood.

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Diagon Alley wasn't very busy, what with Yule having just occurred. The few people who were out and about on the cold December morning were bleary eyed and hair a mess. Tom and Iris had the same thoughts regarding these people: partiers. One witch was particularly drunk and stumbled right into a building. Tom laughed, enjoying her misfortune. Iris gave the cruelly laughing boy a dismayed look.

The witch, her blonde hair a rat's nest, heard Tom laughing at her mockingly. Not able to see correctly and face covered with cold snow, she tried aiming her wand to blast the pest, when she felt her wand torn from her frigid fingers. Her body was blown backwards from the excessive force of the spell, slamming her into the old building behind her. Dazed, the witch simply lay there, her stomach rolling and nausea clawing at her throat.

"Really now, cursing children? How rude." Iris sniffed in disdain, playing up her reactions to try and entertain Tom, who looked mildly amused, but far more greedy at the sight of the wands. He made a grab for one, but Iris was faster and jerked them out of his reach.

"Nuh-uh, you mister are not touching a real wand until I've at least trained you in controlling your magic some. Not to mention that these wands probably wouldn't work all that well for you anyways. The wand chooses the witch or wizard." Tom glowered at her, his eyes still full of greed. She tossed the wand in the woman's direction, hitting her in the head. The witch gave a screech and rolled over to grab her wand, but was still too dazed to do so.

"You will teach me." It wasn't a request or a question, but a demand. Iris's eyes narrowed, the green glowing brighter with anger.

"Keep acting like that and you'll be learning magic when you go to Hogwarts and not before that." Tom was alarmed by her threat, he had the feeling that she would not be swayed on the matter, so decided to behave for the time being. If he wanted to be as powerful as he could, then he needed to start as early as possible. He'd have to play nice when dealing with Iris. He decided that he would question her later in a more subtle manner, so as not to upset her and risk being tossed back into the orphanage. He was bursting with questions about her past and how she knew about him among many other things.

At least she wasn't treating him like a helpless and stupid baby. He was far more than a child. For that alone, Tom would allow her to be in his presence. He didn't realize just how arrogant and snobbish his thoughts were.

The Lethifold huddled close to Iris, not liking the cold. She felt Snuggles shivering and cast a warming charm on him. He purred, relishing in the warmth seeping into his body.

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Tom looked around in well-concealed amazement, eyes darting all over the place. Snowflakes drifted into his face, the cold stinging his cheeks. His clothes actually protected him from the cold for the first time in his life; it was something that he never wanted to lose now that he had it.

Iris glanced at Tom out of the corner of her eye, sympathy rising as she saw the way he was clutching at the clothes she had transfigured for him. She could remember all too well the feeling of biting cold and knowing that she would never receive clothes meant to guard against it.

"Here's our first stop."

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Madam Zamara was bustling around her shop, waving her wand, and sending several swaths of colorful fabric flying about the room. The sound of a bell tinkling distracted her from her work. Turning, she smiled at the two people in the doorway. The boy was absolutely adorable, and his large eyes followed the flying fabrics as they flew overhead.

"Hello, we're here for the clothes I ordered." Zamara went behind the wood counter, reaching below to place several shrunken bags and boxes on the counter. Iris withheld a groan at the price, and Tom made a funny choking sound when he saw the currency. The greed in his eyes warned Iris that his Magpie tendencies were going to be a problem. He had stared at shiny things in windows very intently, and the money was no exception.

_Dammit, now I'll have to keep an even closer eye on him. _

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When the trio finally managed to tear themselves away from Diagon, Iris and Tom promptly crashed and burned. Neither liked to shop, as all it seemed to do was tucker them out and create annoying headaches. Iris had had to steer Tom away from Knockturn Alley no less than three times. He seemed to be drawn by the Dark magic that Knockturn Alley emitted, calling out to his own darkening core of magic. While there was no doubt that Tom would be a Dark wizard, that didn't mean that he would be evil.

Iris jumped when the charm she had placed on the Silvertongue snake egg to alert her when it began hatching, went off. She flamed upstairs, grabbing Tom absentmindedly, ignoring his indignant shout as she flamed with him. Tearing himself away from her, Tom glared at Iris as she rushed over to an egg of some sort. It was hatching, and despite his anger, found himself gravitating towards it. It was a beautiful egg, pity it was being destroyed.

A small head poked out, a silver tongue flickering, tasting the scents on the drafts reaching it. The head was an ice blue, with a fine dusting of gold. The snake finally managed to slither out of the egg, and simply rested, not at all perturbed by the two humans staring at it in fascination.

The gold grew darker as it traveled down the body, eventually turning into red when it reached the tail. The underside of the snake and parts of its back and sides were a deep emerald green. The ice blue gradually darkened into a deep royal blue closer to the end of its tail. Its eyes were silver, and there were silver patterns all along the sides and, oddly enough, belly of the snake. It was a truly beautiful creature, no longer than Iris's hand from wrist to the tip of her middle finger. Slime covered the creature, but a wave of Iris's hand took care of that. The snake recoiled at the sensation of magic washing over her small body. She hissed in displeasure.

{Hello there little one.} Tom startled, wide eyes flying to Iris's face a he registered that she could also speak to snakes. Something warm bloomed in his chest, and he was tempted to squash it, but decided not to since it wasn't hurting him. The little snake's head reared back in shock, not having expected to meet a being that could talk to her.

{You can speak!} Both Tom and the snake yelled this at Iris, who looked sheepish.

{Err, well…yeah, I've always been able to that I can remember.} Iris fidgeted, nibbling her lower lip in trepidation. Smug satisfaction coiled in Tom, he and Iris were even more alike than he had previously thought.

{Are you male or female?} The snake looked, if this was possible, offended.

{Female if you must know.} The little female snake's tone clearly displayed her thoughts about the human female not being particularly bright. Tom hissed at the snake, not pleased that she was insinuating that Iris was stupid.

{My apologies. How is it that you are able to speak so well and think the way you have been doing after just having hatched?} The snake flicked her tongue out, not saying anything at first.

{My mother passed on some of her own knowledge to me. I have been in that egg for a very long time, and have had the added benefit of absorbing that knowledge to help me survive.} Iris and Tom gaped at the odd little snake peering up at them.

{I take it you do not have a name?} The snake stared at Iris blankly. Tom huffed as he was subsequently ignored when he began muttering questions of his own.

{Name? What is this _name_ that you speak of? Is it edible?} Iris snorted in amusement, earning herself a scandalized look from Tom at her not very lady-like behavior.

{No, it's is a way of addressing things so that there is no, or at least less confusion. What do you think of Sinia? It means blue-green if you're wondering.}

The snake looked confused still, but nodded her head, deciding that this must just be some strange human habit.

Tom looked at Iris in disbelief. Really, the woman was absolutely awful at naming things.

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It was finally Tom's birthday, after three long days of waiting, he was going to get his presents. Iris had decided that after he was such a pain and refused to listen, that he could go without his presents for three more days. She told him that he would be getting more, seeing as she now had to go get him something for his birthday. Iris had refused to tell him what she was getting him, smugly informing the soon to be six year old that telling him would ruin the surprise.

Tom grinned as he ripped open the first present he had ever received, inside was a large book. He hungrily looked at it, debating whether or not he should read it now, or focus on the rest of his presents. He decided to open the rest to see if Iris might have gotten him something even better than the book.

Iris watched Tom as he struggled to come to a decision about opening the rest of his gifts or waiting in favor of reading the book about beginner's magic. He set the book aside on the floor gently. He was currently sitting between her lower legs and feet, Iris having won the battle over forcing him to back off. The Lethifold had gleefully spread itself out on her lap, purring as she stroked it.

Tom shot the Lethifold a dark scowl, remembering all too well how the thing had bitten him in retaliation for him trying to light it on fire with his magic. Iris had had to separate the two of them, yelling all the while about boys being idiots. Both Tom and the Lethifold had sulked for the rest of the night. It was this that had prompted Iris to punish Tom by withholding his presents. She had caught him trying to use her wand earlier as well, only to have a spell backfire on him. She had left his hair the pink he'd accidentally turned it to teach him a lesson.

***Flashback (Day After Shopping)***

_Tom snuck up to Iris's bed during the early hours of the morning, looking for her wand. The Lethifold had gone out hunting and now was his best chance. Sinia was curled up under the blankets, her head poking out. Tom looked all around the room, but couldn't find her wand. He refused to give up though, and continued to search. There was one last place that he hadn't looked, and that was the most dangerous of all: Iris._

_Silently, he approached the bed, his eyes darting to her face constantly. He gripped the edge of the blankets and slowly, so very slowly began to pull them back. After what seemed like forever, but was more like a few minutes, he peeked at her bared arms. Two holsters caught his gaze, the wands in them looking nothing alike except for the general shape and both being made out of wood. One had strange nodules along it, the designs almost resembling elderberries. He didn't reach for that wand, its magic telling him to back off. The other wand didn't seem to be rejecting him, so he carefully pried it out of the holster._

_Tom's heart leapt into his throat when Iris rolled over, causing the wand to pop free of the strange holster as the tension grew to the breaking point. No sparks were emitted, but he hadn't expected that after Iris explained more about wands choosing their witch or wizard. He scuttled out of the room, darting down the massive staircase and slipping into the siting room Iris had brought him to his first night at the manor._

_Tom concentrated, closing his eyes and focusing before staring at the quill he had nicked from the desk in Iris's room. "Wingardium Leviosa." A surge of magic rolled through him and then into the wand. He could feel only the slightest bit of resistance, the wand not a perfect match for him._

_The quill trembled, before stilling. He glowered, and tried again, grinning smugly when the quill began to float. He moved on to other easy spells he'd come across in Flourish and Blotts when Iris had made a stop there for something._

_He lost track of time, and was unaware of the Lethifold watching him from the shrinking shadows. Snuggles rustled, creeping closer, wanting to see how badly he could scare the boy. Tom remained oblivious to the Lethifold's approach, too absorbed in trying to fix the cup he'd accidentally broken. He didn't know the spell, but was having moderate success by using his formidable mind and power rather than previous experience or knowledge._

_Snuggles briefly considered just going upstairs and back to bed, but he just couldn't let the opportunity pass by._

_Snuggles launched himself at Tom, a strange roar filling the room, it was more of a screech than a roar to be honest. Tom cursed quite creatively, denying all claims that he actually screamed. The Lethifold found itself at the business end of a wand, a wand that was spewing out fire. With a shrill shriek, the Lethifold retreated, only to tackle Tom and wrap him up like a burrito when the fire stopped. The wand and Tom both fell to the floor, one with a soft clatter and the other with a solid thumping noise._

_Tom managed to free one arm and grab the wand he had dropped on the floor. He pointed it at the Lethifold, but the wand backfired on him when he tried to cast the same spell he had when the Lethifold startled him. He didn't realize it, but his hair had turned pink._

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_Iris flung herself out of bed, automatically flicking her wrist to release her first wand, only to realize that it was missing when nothing shot into her had. There was only one other place it could be, and that was with a little boy who was going to be in so much trouble. She belatedly remembered that a roar, followed by a scream had jarred her awake. She snatched up her dressing gown and practically flew down the stairs. She was still asleep enough to have forgotten that she could simply flame down to the first floor._

_Stumbling down the stairs as her sleepy body struggled to get its muscles working, Iris wondered where Tom was. She hadn't finished giving him the full tour, and there were no House Elves as of yet. That was something she planned to remedy as soon as she could trust Tom not to kill them, or torture them for that matter. What she didn't know was that Tom loved to experiment on anything and everything, he was a curious little high-functioning sociopath in the making after all._

_Tripping as she reached the end of the stairs, she barely managed to keep her balance. Her arms windmilled, and several foul words burst from her. Somehow managing to keep her balance and not make a fool out of herself by falling flat on her face, she dashed off in the direction the sounds of a scuffle were coming from. She froze in disbelief when she saw the two rolling around. Well, it was more like Tom was doing all of the rolling, while Snuggles clung onto him._

_She then spotted her wand lying on the floor. White-hot anger surged through her when the sight of burn marks told their own story. She was greatly amused by Tom's pink hair, but her anger outshone it and smothered it._

_"What the hell are you two up to!" Her roar of anger startled Tom and Snuggles. Tom finally stopped yelling and cursing at Snuggles, and said Lethifold shot away from Tom and to the other side of the room. He chittered and hissed, crumbles and growls interspersed. Iris had the feeling that Snuggles was trying to explain, but she obviously couldn't speak Lethifold. She didn't think that it was possible actually. She knew Dementors had a language that was created by Necromancers long ago when the demons first began to appear. She began yelling about the stupidity of males, much to their displeasure._

_"I…I, uh." Tom really didn't know what to say in this sort of situation. He had been caught red-handed, and there was no worming his way out of this one. Iris glared down at him, her hands parking themselves on her hips._

_"Did it ever occur to you that using a wand without prior instruction or having someone there to make sure nothing goes wrong, which it obviously did, was a bad idea?" Her voice was sharp and he actually looked contrite. "You're not getting your Yule presents until your birthday, and if you keep up this behavior, you'll be waiting even longer for both your birthday and Yule gifts." Tom's eyes burned with fury. He barely managed to keep the sneer off of his face._

_"Oh, and I'm not fixing your hair, consider it part of your punishment." She left then, only after making sure that neither of them were hurt. Tom stewed in silence, his magic lashing out at the room. Items began to float and any glass in the room not protected from such temperamental magic began to crack or simply shattered._

_Iris paused on her way to the kitchen and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation when she heard the shattering of glass. She turned back around and trudged back to the sitting room. She began fixing things, making sure to bubble her magic around Tom's, preventing it from causing any more damage. His magic calmed when hers came into contact. It didn't completely calm, but it wasn't battering hers away._

***Flashback End***

Tom didn't quite know what to make of the child's broom. On one hand, he was excited seeing as it was magic, but on the other, he was offended and not that interested in brooms.

Tom ended up with several new books that Iris had somehow managed to smuggle over to the cashier while he was distracted. There was one book that he planned to set on Hades the first chance he had.

***Very Mini Flashback***

_Tom warily eyed the snarling and hissing package that Iris was pointing at. It was tucked under a larger present, but whatever the smaller one was, it was strong enough to rattle the larger one. He stood, nudging it gingerly. Its growling increased, and Tom gave Iris a disbelieving look._

_Iris grinned mysteriously, not at all reassuring Tom. She had had to special order the book directly from the author seeing as there were none for sale yet. It had been reasonably priced, especially when she informed the young author that you could calm them down. It was a good thing that the compulsion on the letter was so strong. The young man had quickly leapt at the offer once the compulsion took hold, tired of his creations trying to kill him. He had been extremely suspicious about how she knew how to calm the books, let alone that they existed._

_Iris barely managed to contain her laughter when Tom retrieved the toy broomstick to move the present. He used it to unwrap the gift as well, making for a perfect picture moment. Discreetly, she performed the camera charm, one that wouldn't be invented until 1996. There was no flash of light or noise, the effectiveness of the spell making up for its difficulty._

_A black book came into view, one that was covered in fur, with red eyes balefully glaring up at Tom. Iris had specifically requested the most aggressive book, wanting to watch Tom try and subdue it. She knew Tom loved challenges. The six-year old stared at the book, head tilted to the side in confusion. The book had been belted shut, the leather straining somewhat under the pressure of holding down snapping jaws._

_A devious plot began to form in Tom's mind as he poked at the thrashing book with his broom. He was curious who would come out the winner in a fight between the Lethifold and…the Monster Book of Monsters. How apropos in regards to the title._

_The Lethifold took one look at the duo and shivered, dread filling it._

_Iris cast a warming charm on Snuggles, thinking that he was cold when he shivered on her lap._

***Flashback end***

Iris reached behind her, having hidden two of Tom's presents. She nibbled her lower lip as Tom looked at her almost accusingly. Why she had no idea. It would be completely ridiculous for him to be mad at her for hiding two of his presents in order to save them for last. She offered the smaller of the two to him first.

He took it, tearing off the paper with gusto, only to look at her in confusion. Iris's lips twitched as she fought her smile, knowing that he would think she was mocking him rather than simply thinking his expression adorable.

Tom had every right to be confused, doubly so because he was a male. Why would Iris be giving him a box that obviously contained a necklace of some sort? Although, she did give him the pendant he had yet to take off in the dream. Thinking that it would be something similar, he opened it, and gaped.

A locket, a big, gold locket with emeralds in the shape of an S. He lifted it out of its box, testing the weight of it in his hand. He tore his eyes away from it to look at Iris's face. She looked pensive, nervous about something.

"That locket belonged to you ancestor Salazar Slytherin. It has been passed down from mother to daughter, starting with Salazar's only female grandchild." She paused as his eyes widened.

Iris had explained to him all about his family lineage, and had promised him that she would take him to see the family that either didn't want him or didn't know about him. Iris hadn't specified which, but he had a feeling that it was a combination of both. She had warned him that it would be unpleasant at best to meet his relatives. Tom was inclined to believe her because she had yet to lie to him and they had never bothered to find him or see if he existed.

"Your mother sold it when she was heavily pregnant with you in order for her to get just enough food to keep the two of you alive. She died due to severe magical exhaustion after giving birth to you. Magical babies are much more taxing to carry than Muggle due to them sapping your magic to make their own at a rapid rate. It's a bit different for Muggleborns. They simply sap the ambient magic out of the air or earth. I did not tell you before how she really died, as I was unable to come up with a reason to dive into such depressing thoughts when you already have so much on your plate."

Tom's hand tightened around the locket until his knuckles turned white. Iris reached over and covered his hand with both of hers. He was burning to know what she knew of his family and how, but he'd ask later.

"I know that I shouldn't have kept this from you, but you've been through a traumatic event recently and have had your life turned upside-down. The last thing you needed was for me to bring up your mother and the reason for her death. You are not to blame for her death Tom, she chose to carry you to term and give you a chance at life. All she had left was you, and even had she aborted you, her health had declined so much in so little time, that her magic would not have been able to save her anyways."

Tom looked at her hands covering his, expression blank. Iris scooted forward. Letting go of his hand in order to pull his stiff form into her arms. Tom did not resist her when she hugged him, though the Lethifold was less than pleased to have been disturbed. Tom slowly returned the hug, reaching out with his magic, seeking hers and the comfort that it offered. Her magic swirled around him, enfolding his in a sort of hug. He relaxed, relishing in the comfort and peace.

Logically he knew that Iris was right, that he did not need to hear about his mother when he was so unstable from his life turning on its head. He nuzzled into her neck, breathing deeply to draw in her soothing scent. She smelled like a flower of some sort, perhaps Daphne. Iris stroked his wavy black hair on the back of his head, humming softly. He relaxed, his agitated magic calming under her ministrations and her own magic curling around him. The Lethifold grumbled, but didn't do much else.

Iris pulled away, reaching for the last present. She handed it to Tom, taking the locket from him, only to place it over his head. He stared at it, admiring the way the firelight reflected off of it.

Tom reached for the longer package, causing a smile to break out on Iris's face. Tom, sharp as always, caught his guardian's grin. He felt his excitement increase. He ripped off the expensive looking paper, not knowing that Iris had simply used a charm to wrap the present in conjured paper. Little silver and black sakes slithered over the now torn up paper, the elegant silver bow having been hurriedly untied.

A long thin case made of some dark and highly polished wood with his initials on it met his gaze. He looked at Iris questioningly.

"Well go on, open it." At her encouragement, Tom flipped open the lid hoping that it wasn't another locket, gasping in surprised delight at what he saw nestled within. A _wand_. She had gotten him a wand. Delighted, he snatched it up; green and black sparks weakly sparking from the tip.

"It's a training wand. I thought it best that you begin learning how to cast spells and protect yourself. We'll have to go to Knockturn Alley once your magic adjusts to being channeled through a conduit. I know you are capable of using wandless magic, but for now let's just focus on getting you trained." Tom flung himself at his guardian, knocking her over with the force. Wrapping paper flew in the air as her body slammed into the floor and created a draft.

The Lethifold shrieked, shooting away from them as it was squashed. Iris laughed, propping herself up on her elbows. "I take it that you agree with me then." It wasn't a question; she knew the answer. Tom's neck was in danger of being injured with the force he was nodding his head.

"I thought that you wouldn't let me anywhere near a wand after what I did with yours." Tom sheepishly admitted to his fear that Iris wouldn't let him learn magic and by doing so, gain power. He knew that he would have to be powerful if he wanted to protect himself and Iris. She had chosen to raise him, therefore making Iris his in his twisted little mind.

Iris must have seen something of his thoughts as she regarded him with great suspicion and dread all of a sudden.

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In the years to come, Iris would later look back on this day and realize that it was then, on his sixth birthday, that she noticed for the first time that Tom's obsession had fully began to take root. She had noticed that the feelings had festered for several days up to that point.

She would later realize that some things fate would not let you change. She should have remembered just how possessive and obsessive Voldemort was. After all, he was once Tom Riddle, and those feelings had to start somewhere.

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	5. Visits

A/N: Sorry about how long this took. I have a broken finger, so typing is much more difficult, not to mention slow. I'll go back later and fix any mistakes.

Chapter Five: Visits

Iris groaned as Tom somehow managed to string her up on the ceiling…again. How the hell was he doing that? So much for a 'charming little angel' as people so lovingly called Tom. She could tell that Tom had to restrain himself from attacking people when they said that. Concentrating, she flamed back to the floor and set off to find the demon child. Gods he was a handful. She worried that he might have a penchant for pranks that was previously undiscovered, one that would rival the Weasley Twins or Marauders. She shuddered at the thought of a mini-Voldemort running around pranking people non-stop. Though, if so, it was her fault for giving him joke products in the first place so he could take revenge without torturing or maiming someone.

It had been over a year since she took him in, and during that time, she had been forced to accept invitations from the Malfoy, Black, and Lestrange Families. Tom liked going to the private parties, especially if it was the Lestrange or Black Families, about as much as she did, which was not at all. She had explained to him, which was actually painful, that these private parties were important for political reasons. After that, Tom developed an obsession with politics. She liked politics, but hated the people she would inevitably have to deal with when she took a more active role. Speaking of which, she was currently working from behind the scenes. While no one knew what she looked like, except for a select few, her titles were being used. Tom had thrown a fit when he realized that he couldn't do anything with the Slytherin Lordship as he was too young and he had older male family members.

"Tom! We need to get ready!" She yelled, using a Sonorous on her voice. She didn't hear a reply, but she knew that Tom was inside the manor somewhere. She had decided that Mrs. Weasley's clock was a brilliant idea and had a pocket watch made with the same functions. Tom had gotten a greedy look in his eyes when he saw it for the first time. It had been an accident that he managed to see it. Iris had wanted to keep him unaware of the pocket watch for as long as possible. She failed to take into account that Tom was a human Niffler. Trust him to ferret out any silver or gold she had on her person. She knew Tom was thinking about tracking her when he saw that pocket watch. She made sure to charm it so that only she could use it. Tom hadn't liked that.

Like Dumbledore and Slughorn claimed, Tom was a prodigy. Iris was jealous of how smart he was for his age. Tom was going to annihilate the competition at Hogwarts, academically speaking that is.

Iris groaned as a much more troubling thought popped up. How was she going to keep Tom from discovering the Chamber of Secrets? Should she make him vow not to set the basilisk on the students or staff before telling him? It might work, but it also had a huge potential to backfire on her.

Rubbing her temples with her fingers, Iris made her way to her room. Gods she really didn't want to go have dinner with the Blacks. At least Orion and Tom got along well enough, i.e. Tom wasn't trying to kill Orion with a glare. Walburga had developed a crush on Tom, much to his disgust and Iris's amusement.

Iris snickered as she remembered the first time she and Tom went to see the Black Family.

***Flashback***

"_Now Tom, please try to be civil for both our sakes." Tom glared at her mulishly, huffing and crossing his arms. Tom was upset that he was being dragged away from his precious books to socialize. He shuddered slightly in horror. _

"_I still don't understand why we are doing this, much less why I have to come along." Iris pinched the bridge of her nose._

"_I've told you that the Black Family has children that will be attending Hogwarts with you. They are a politically powerful family, and I need them to be my allies. The sooner I establish close or friendly ties with the Lestrange, Malfoy, and Black Families, the better."_

"_I hate children." Iris rolled her eyes._

"_Tom, I hate to break it to you, but you _are_ a child." Tom scowled at her. Iris sighed. "Look Tom, you might not be able to see it now, but one day you'll thank me for establishing connections." Tom didn't seem to agree with her on that. "We need to leave now, unless you want to be more late than we already are." _

_Tom stalked forward and grabbed on to the Portkey Lord Black had sent for just that night. "Ready?" At Tom's nod, Iris activated the Portkey, and bent her knees as they spun dizzyingly. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she moved one foot forwards as though she was going to take a step. Tom failed to remember to do this and ended up sprawled on the wood floor. Iris, expression blank, offered him her hand, which he ignored. _

"_Ah, I was worried that the Portkey might have been defective." Arcturus Black the Third and his wife stood smiling as he greeted their guests. "This is my wife, Lady Melania Black nee Macmillan, and you already know who I am." Iris gave a small curtsey to the Lord and Lady Black, earning her approving looks. Tom looked to be in agony as he gave a small bow. The adults looked on in amusement._

"_I am sure you know who I am, but let me introduce my cousin Tom Riddle." At the name Riddle, the two Blacks snapped their heads down to look at him. _

"_A pleasure to meet you." Tom's smooth voice raised a few brows. He stepped forward and gave Lady Black's offered hand a kiss._

"_Riddle, that is not a name I am familiar with." Melania stated accusingly. Iris took a deep breath. Tom had stiffened despite his best efforts not to._

"_His mother was a Gaunt." The two Blacks looked intrigued now. It not was common knowledge that the Gaunts were all insane and dirt poor. This was mainly due to few people being aware of their existence in the first place. The Gaunts also claimed to be the direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin. _

"_You are related?"_

"_Yes, distantly through the Peverells." The two Blacks nodded in understanding. _

"_Well, I think it is time to introduce you to the rest of our family." Tom grimaced as he followed the adults._

***Flashback End***

Opening her closet, she stared at the robes. Deciding on a silvery-blue and white robe with gold runes stitched in it, she sat to do her hair and makeup. Tom had the great misfortune of waltzing in unannounced, only to run back out the door with a shriek. Iris blinked in shock. What the hell was his problem? He was acting like seeing her in her bra and underwear was a great sin. Hell, back in her time, she could claim that it was a bikini. Oh, right, her time was much more…loose in regards to sexuality and sensuality. Oh well, maybe he would start knocking for once in his life.

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Tom ran to his room, blushing furiously over what he just inadvertently saw. Things were going to be very awkward around Iris after that. He steadfastly refused to talk about it in the future.

Still blushing, he grabbed the first set of robes that were dressy enough, that he saw. They ended up being the charcoal and green with silver accents, robes he'd never worn before. He silently vowed to never again barge into Iris's room without knocking first.

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It was a quarter to six when Tom and Iris made their way to the main floor. Tom refused to look at Iris in the eye, and continued to blush when he looked at her. Iris simply smirked and decided that his 'blushing maid' act would make excellent blackmail material in the future.

Snuggles was draped over her like usual. The first time the other families met him, they had completely freaked out. Not that she blamed them. Who in their right mind _wouldn't_ panic slightly at the very least when confronted with a Lethifold in you own home that you had previously thought to be a cloak? The children had steered clear for several hours after first meeting Snuggles, but most eventually warmed up to him. Learning his name had something to do with that. Snuggles seemed to hate Walburga even more than Tom if that was possible.

The only time she had ever seen Snuggles and Tom get along was when the two troublemakers decided to torment Walburga. You would think that Tom being mean to her would discourage her, but no, it only seemed to encourage her.

Tom was at his wits end trying deal with her and was about ready to just feed her to the Lethifold and let it take all the blame. Not that he needed much motivation to make that happen. He just preferred to be the one to eliminate the pest.

The other boys thought it was hilarious, especially Orion. Tom vowed to get revenge on all of them for locking him and Walburga in a coat closet together one time. He would never forgive them for that. Fortunately for Tom, Iris had grown suspicious when she didn't hear him issuing threats like he normally did, so she went looking for him. It had seemed like he had spent an eternity in hell with Lilith rather than five minutes in a closet with a little girl before she found them. He had actually flung himself at Iris and refused to let her out of his sight for the rest of the evening. Snuggles had chased off Walburga every time she tried to get near Tom, much to the adults' amusement.

After that, Tom clung to Iris like glue and refused to be anywhere near Walburga. Iris had painstakingly explained that no, he couldn't hurt Walburga. She had slyly passed joke products to him though. Tom took great delight in tormenting the girl, and occasionally the boys with the items Iris continued to give him when he politely asked. She seemed extremely reluctant to give them to him, and after the first time, only gave him the tame pranking products. The other female Blacks simply left Tom and the boys alone, having no interest in interacting with them, and so avoided being pranked.

Tom had recently taken to making his own pranking products with his training wand and potions kit Iris had given him. Iris had been horrified when she found out, but was willing to let him continue experimenting if he promised to not use his experiments on her. He had agreed, and now others were subjected to his not so innocent pranks. They actually bordered on cruel, and sometimes went beyond that border.

"So, ready to go?" Tom gave a malicious smile, and Iris knew that someone was getting heavily pranked tonight. "Tom, please, please don't make body parts randomly rearrange themselves this time." She didn't care that she was begging. While the prank was cruel and painful, the Lestranges, Malfoys, and Blacks recognized an effective way to take down an opponent when they saw one, and rather than being enraged, demanded that Tom show them how he did it. Tom had relished in the attention and gloatingly reversed the effects. The other families had been impressed by his genius, and encouraged him to continue experimenting.

"Yes, I am ready." Grabbing Tom and the Portkey, the two disappeared with a sickening whirl of color.

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"So, what do you think the little brat has in store for us tonight Arcturus?" Scorpius Malfoy inquired. Arcturus grinned savagely.

"I am not sure, but it had better be good." Both men took great delight in Tom's experiments and couldn't wait to see what he had made this time. Of course, Iris had helped publish his experiments under an alias that would later be replaced by his real name. Iris herself was an amazing Spellcrafter and Potions creator. She went by the last name Evans of all things though. She had icily informed them that she was in no way ready for diving into politics and refused to draw more attention on herself and Tom. When asked, she had muttered something about Albus Dumblewhore and Gellert Grindelwald. They had asked if she actually just said 'Dumblewhore' and not misheard her instead. Iris had blushed and admitted that yes, she had just called the meddling man Dumblewhore.

The name had stuck and now most Dark families were bandying it about to irritate the man. While not famous per say, Dumbledore was undoubtedly powerful both magically and politically, so he was a constant thorn in the sides of the Dark families.

"Well, we shall find out in a moment." Right after Arcturus said that, Tom and Iris appeared. Their wives enthusiastically greeted the two, who were surprised to see the Malfoys present. The children were not in sight, but they could be heard from some part of the house.

"Good to see you Lady Evans and Mr. Riddle." Tom greeted the two women and nodded at the men before scurrying off to lay booby-traps. "We are just waiting for the Lestranges, who should be here any minute." Iris nearly groaned. Great, now she would have to fend off the unmarried younger brother of Lord Cynric Lestrange. Edward Lestrange was a scrawny little pest who was in his mid thirties. She had cursed him several times and he had been victim to some of Tom's more vicious pranks.

"Gods, _please_ tell me Edward won't be joining us?" At the name Edward, Tom's head shot up from where he was in the living room. He scowled, then grinned evilly as he remembered the potion he had recently created. Edward's life was about to become very painful very soon if he was indeed coming.

"Oh yes, he actually threatened his brother with physical harm should he try and stop him from coming." Scorpius smirked at Iris as she groaned in dismay.

"At least Tom will make his life hell." Everyone laughed as they remembered the last time Edward had tried to grope Iris. Iris had lit into Edward and only stopped when he turned into frog. Iris had gaped before bursting into laughter.

They had grown used to Iris's less than Lady-like behavior over the past year and found her to be refreshing and entertaining. She refused to be a 'stuffy politician' and bore people to death. Oh, she acted like the perfect Pureblood Lady when she needed and wanted to, but normally just didn't bother. Tom on the other had was becoming more and more reserved.

"Lady Evans!" Iris dove behind Arcturus and Scorpius, peeking over their shoulders at the bane of her existence: Edward Lestrange. Cynric Lestrange grimaced at his younger brother's actions, shaking his head in disappointment. His oldest son, Elmar Lestrange smothered his snickers as he watched his idiotic uncle make a fool out of himself. His mother, Enna Lestrange, grinned as Edward cowered away from the glowers of Scorpius and Arcturus.

"Ah, I see Tom is unable to attend." Edward looked positively overjoyed at Tom's absence. The others who knew that Tom was in fact present, remained silent, deciding that they wanted it to be a nasty surprise. Plus, Edward wouldn't be looking for any traps if he thought Tom was absent.

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Orion paused and cocked his head when a scream tore throughout the house. The children all looked at each other in shock before running towards where it came from.

"I thought that the brat wasn't here!" Laughter was Edward's only answer. The children darted into the room, took one look at Edward and burst into laughter or giggles.

Edward had once again tried to grope Iris, only he hadn't noticed Tom glowering at him from the shadows of the living room. Tom had activated one of the booby-traps that Edward was by once Iris flung herself away from the creep. Edward's nose was now on one of his arms and one arm was where one of his legs should be and vice versa. One of his hands had been replaced by a foot, and the foot by a hand. His mouth was on his chest and his ears on top of his head. Edward was lying on his back, seeing as he was unable to keep himself upright.

Tom smirked smugly at the downed man. The Lethifold had taken its own revenge and bitten the fool. You would think that the man would have learned not to try and grope Iris when the Lethifold was on her back, but no.

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Tom practically sat in Iris's lap on the couch in an attempt to keep Edward away. The Lethifold was too busy chasing Walburga, and the idiot still hadn't learned his lesson. After reversing the prank, Tom had latched on to Iris and refused to be parted from her. The adults tried to get him to go play with the children, but Tom was not at all in the mood to humor them. He had been only slightly tempted, but in the end, his desire to remain by Iris greatly outweighed his desire to torment the other children. Orion, Abraxas, and Elmar were much more tolerable and had opted to stay with him and the adults. The three were currently on the floor by Iris and Tom, playing Exploding Snap.

"No!" A small explosion signaled that someone had tripped a booby-trap, it was probably Edward. Sure enough, the man was sporting antlers. There were really only two people Tom bothered to prank: Edward and Walburga. The others were either on accident or they had annoyed him. Since Iris still didn't allow him to use his wand directly, or his magic to maim, he was forced to use desperate measures. There was a strange sort of satisfaction watching one of his experiments unfold.

The others paused and snorted or giggled at the man's misfortune. Iris ran her fingers through Tom's hair as she turned her attention back to the conversation about current politics.

"With the new Werewolf legislation, we are likely to see more conflict." Scorpius swirled the wine in his glass as he leaned against the fireplace mantle and reclined against the wall. Arcturus nodded in agreement.

"While I do not like Werewolves, I do not think that forcing them to register with the Ministry and be taxed more heavily is going to produce favorable results." Iris wanted to bang her head against something. It would seem that no matter the era, Werewolf legislation would remain a hot topic.

"Who was it that proposed the bill?" Iris looked at Scorpius as she asked her question.

"Lord Braxton Umbridge and Lord Daniel Prewitt." Iris barely refrained from gaping, ignoring Edward's moaning and groaning as he tried to get rid of the antlers.

"Prewitt! But he is from the Light faction." Arcutus gave a short laugh.

"It is the Light faction that often proposes such legislation in an effort to control 'Dark' creatures. The Dark faction is more likely to opt for killing them all rather than having them register or be taxed more heavily. There are several families that are from the Dark faction that support magical creatures." Iris looked at the others in shock.

"Ironic is it not? One would think the Light faction would be all for equality and freedom. When it comes to so called 'Light' creatures, of which there are very few of higher intelligence, they are more than willing to accept them with open arms." Iris shook her head in disgust. No wonder magical Britain had taken such a turn for the worse. With Dumbledore leading the community, the Dark families and creatures were repressed more and more, all the while discarding the Old Ways in favor of Muggle traditions. It was sickening how willing the Light side was to accept the destruction of magic, but condemn those trying to preserve it.

"I guess it's a good thing I'm Neutral then." The others smirked at her.

"Oh yes, I can't wait for the day when you waltz into the Wizengamot meeting and activate your Seats. The looks of horror on both factions' faces, especially Dumbledore's is going to be priceless." The three wives stopped whatever it was they were doing and smirked along with their husbands.

"I want to see a Pensieve memory of the event." Enna grinned mischievously along with Melania and Diana, who was Scorpius's wife.

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Many miles away, Albus Dumbledore shivered as dread crept over him. He had no idea why he was feeling such dread, but it could mean nothing good for him, that was for sure.


End file.
